Upgradeable Mechatronic Systems Integration of Upgrade Planning and Design for Increasing Sustainability in Vehicle Development Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Fehrenbacher, Rüdiger, author.

Contributor:

Albers, A.

Bause, Katharina

Jung, Luca

Kolbe, Lucia

Kuebler, Maximilian

Nootny, Fabio

Zeng, Yunying

Conference Name:

2025 Stuttgart International Symposium (2025-07-02 : Stuttgart, Germany)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource cm

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2025

Summary:

The automotive industry faces the challenge of developing vehicles that meet current customer needs while being future-proof. Surveys conducted for this study show that customers are concerned about the financial risks of essential components such as energy storage systems, mainly due to aging and performance degradation, which significantly affect vehicle lifespans. Based on vehicle developer surveys, a clear need for action was identified. Given the rapid technological advancements in electrified drive systems, there is a need for innovative approaches that can easily adapt to changing requirements. Therefore, this paper presents a strategy combining foresight-based planning of system upgrades with product architecture design to create adaptable and sustainable vehicles through modularity. First, dynamic subsystem characteristics are identified to establish future energy storage technology requirements. Subsequently, future energy storage system technologies are examined to determine those that meet the identified dynamic characteristics. Based on this information, the technologies are analyzed technically-functional and geometrically to create flexible design spaces within the product architecture. This enables the future integration of new, more efficient, or higher-performance energy storage technologies into vehicles during their utilization phase. The integrability and functional efficacy of the selected technologies are assessed through a combination of impact and criticality analysis based on virtual modeling, resulting in a ranking of the most suitable energy storage technologies. Implementing upgradable mechatronic systems during the development process already considers future requirements. The result is a product architecture with flexible design spaces and standardized interfaces that facilitate the integration of future performance-adapted technologies. This enhances the sustainability of vehicles, extends their service life, and improves resale value, benefiting both customers and manufacturers

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2025-01-0290

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license