Frost & Sullivan: Upgrading the On-Board Power-Net to 42V Will Pave the Way for a 48V Power Net

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• Publié par: frost-sullivan
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• Langue: English

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Frost & Sullivan: Upgrading the On-Board

Power-Net to 42V Will Pave the Way for a 48V

Power Net

PR Newswire

LONDON, June 26, 2012

- Suppliers actively working with car OEMs in close coordination to

develop 48V-specific solutions

LONDON

,

June 26, 2012

/PRNewswire/ -- Electrification of the automobile is not

limited to the Electric Vehicle (EV) space. Conventional automobiles of today

are partly electric in their own way, with most systems in the vehicle having

electrical and electronic connections for better functionality. Certain high-end

vehicles possess more than 90 Electronic Control Units (ECUs) to control the

various modules within the car, making the car both sophisticated and

complicated.

However, added functions such as Electric Power Steering (EPS), Electronic

Braking Systems (EBS), GPS-based Navigation units, Engine Management

Systems etc. make the Electrical and Electronic (E/E) architecture of the car

highly complicated. Future systems are expected to be all the more refined,

warranting more ECUs and a much more robust E/E network.

"The car of today has to step-up from a simple 12 Volt on-board power supply

to 42V or a proposed 48V power net, in order to support all new systems and

applications for enhanced performance, thereby demanding a massive

investment across the entire ecosystem," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst,

Prana Tharthiharan Natarajan. "The benefits of reduced weight of wiring

harnesses, more powerful motors for the various motorised applications and

high-power ICs do substantiate that the automobile is poised to offer the end-

consumer a better experience. But will the benefits also outweigh the costs, is

the crucial question."

Key German auto OEMs BMW, Daimler and Audi-Porsche-Volkswagen released

a joint statement in

June 2011

, stating that they are keen on introducing a 48V

on-board power net as a supplementary power supply for high-power

applications such as Electric Power Steering (EPS), Brake-by-wire (BBW) and

Heating, Ventilation & Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Not only is it technically

and economically difficult to employ these applications with a standard 12V

power net, but it is also increasingly difficult to draw the best performance

characteristics with the lack of a high-voltage power net.

On the other hand, not all components and systems designed for the present

12V power-net can be used in the proposed 48V power net. Suppliers are

actively working with OEMs in close coordination to develop 48V-specific

solutions.

"We expect these innovations to be introduced for power-hungry applications

such as EPS, EBS, climate control and electrically powered interior systems

such as power-windows, automatic door-closures etc," explains Mr. Natarajan.

The 48V power net is an enabler for applications that depend largely on an

electric motor as the power source. Not only will the proposed high-voltage