48V Architecture – A decompounding and lightweighting opportunity !

Increasing penetration of 48V architecture promoting weight reductions across component areas .

The biggest challenge for the entire automotive industry nowadays, apart from meeting increasing customer expectations, perhaps is meeting the global emission norms and fuel mileage regulations. The largest markets of the world including China, USA, Europe, and India have started to put stricter norms in place for emission targets for the automotive industry, and OEMs and vendors are working on a variety of options to meet them. While efficiency and design improvements in the engines and more specifically fuel combustion are one of the ways, the results from the same are generally at a slower pace given the long development cycles. Another booming solution towards the same is electric vehicles (EV), or fully battery powered EVs, where the entire engine is removed in favor of an electric powered drivetrain and thus totally eliminating vehicular emissions. This is definitely a solution for the future and may be the de-facto option in the long term considering pressures on fuel resources and environment. However, this requires disrupting the entire automotive suppliers’ industry, apart from the massive capital influx and government support for implementation and acceptance by the final user. As a result, another option that is gaining popularity amongst both auto OEMs and vendors is the use of mild hybrids or 48V battery architecture to power the vehicle.