Detroit, January 2017 – Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology products and services, showcases the future for electrification technologies with a variety of powertrain solutions at The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS – January 8-22, 2017)). Innovations from Bosch demonstrate how powertrains of tomorrow will be electrified through promising technology that provides consumers choice and sustainable performance.

“Through both OEM feedback and consumer interest, we are seeing that electrification is moving to prominence,” said Mike Mansuetti, president of Robert Bosch LLC. “At NAIAS, we will showcase solutions that make electrification accessible to the masses so OEMs can deliver on the promise of this technology to mainstream consumers.”

New research from Bosch showed 62 per cent of US new car buyers believe they will own at least one full-electric vehicle in their household within 10 years or less. Of those who anticipate having a full-electric vehicle in their household at any point in their lifetime, 71 per cent believe all of their household vehicles will be full-electric vehicles within 15 years.

While new car buyers demonstrated a growing desire to purchase full-electric vehicles, anxieties remain pertaining to specific criteria, including purchase criteria as vehicle reliability, distance between re-charging stops, time required to re-charge, new car purchase price and cost of repair/maintenance. In addition, a significant subset of respondents, 32 percent, indicated they are not interested in purchasing or leasing a full-electric vehicle within the next 15 years, signaling a preference toward other powertrain options.

Making its global debut at NAIAS, Bosch’s electric axle drive system (eAxle) makes electrification accessible for automakers through a scalable, modular platform that can bring 5-10 percent cost efficiency as compared to stand-alone components. The eAxle is flexible for multiple platforms and brings together top-of-the-line Bosch powertrain components into one system.

The Thermal Management Station will show how Bosch technology efficiently manages heat flows in electric vehicles and extends range by up to 25 percent, especially in winter driving conditions. The holistic thermal management approach for electric vehicles makes heating in the winter and cooling in the summer cost effective and energy efficient.

Advancements in the electrified powertrain are not limited to battery-powered vehicles. Bosch continues to drive innovation in the internal combustion engine. Direct injection (DI) makes up nearly 50 percent of today’s internal combustion engine market, and its share continues to grow as it enters its third generation of system technology. This new generation can provide significant improvements in efficiency, as well as reduced particulate and gaseous emissions, and improved acoustic performance to decrease overall noise.

In addition to powertrain technologies, Bosch will also feature automated and connected technologies including the global debut of a key requirement on the path to fully automated driving. The Electric Power Steering (EPS) system with fail-operational function is a highly redundant feature that enables either a driver or auto pilot system to independently return to a minimal risk condition while maintaining about 50 per cent electric steering support in the rare case of a single failure. This technology will enable OEMs to comply with the fall back strategies as proposed in the Federal Automated Vehicles Policy documents from the US Department of Transportation and National Traffic Highway Safety Association.