June 2011

RF 00116 Kl

Reducing CO2 emissions with optimized

internal-combustion engines

Paper by Dr. Rolf Leonhard,

Executive Vice-President Engineering Diesel Systems

at the 60th Automotive Press Briefing

in Boxberg, June 2011

Check against delivery.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Postfach 10 60 50
70049 Stuttgart
Corporate Communications
E-Mail
Thomas.Knoll@bosch.com
Telefon: +49 711 811 - 7088
Telefax: +49 711 811 - 266055
Leitung: Uta-Micaela Drig
Presse-Forum:
www.bosch-presse.de

Ladies and gentlemen,

The internal-combustion engine will to continue to play a major

role in the future of personal mobility, and will have to
contribute to the protection of the worlds climate and the
conservation of our limited reserves of fossil fuel. That is the
conclusion to be drawn from the studies conducted both by our
own market researchers and by external specialists into the
development of the global automotive market.

Our forecasts tell us that by 2020 annual demand for cars and
light trucks will reach 103 million units. Of these, only 3 million
will be either all-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. A further
6 million will be hybrid vehicles with an electric drive in addition
to their internal-combustion engine. In other words, a good
100 million new vehicles powered by internal-combustion
engines will be sold in 2020.

Our forecasts also show that 30 million more new cars with
internal-combustion engines will be sold in 2020 than the
71 million that were sold last year. In other words, the market
for vehicles with internal-combustion engines will grow by a
good 40 percent over the next ten years.

CO2-targets only achievable via optimized combustion engines

How then, in spite of this, can we hope to achieve societys
goals of protecting the environment and conserving fossil-fuel
reserves? The answer is easy to work out: all-electric vehicles
and plug-in hybrids help reduce CO2 emissions by roughly

2 von 11

4 grams per kilometer. So the role of the 97 percent of new

vehicles with internal-combustion engines will have to be
decisive.
And the pressure on engineers will increase as target figures for
CO2 emissions become tighter around the world over the next
ten years.

These days, there are either agreed targets or legally binding

values for CO2 emissions in many countries all over the globe. In
2009, the average passenger car in Europe had carbon dioxide
emissions of 146 grams per kilometer. The European
Commission has set its member states the goal of reducing
emissions by 11 percent to 130 grams by 2015. By 2020, CO2
emissions should be reduced further to a target of 95 grams,
which represents a cut of 35 percent from 2009 levels. The
Commissions target for 2025 is for the average new vehicle to
emit 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer. This equates to fuel
consumption figures of around three liters of gasoline or
2.6 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers a good 50 percent less
than todays average. Another way to express the figures is to
say that gasoline engines will have to achieve a good 78 miles
per gallon and diesel engines 90 miles per gallon. The
Commission has also set targets for light trucks up to 3.5 metric
tons for 2020: the stipulated figure of 147 grams of CO2 per
kilometer represents a reduction of around 30 percent.

Biofuel different markets, different targets

Depending on regional circumstances, markets vary in the
technical focus of their efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. In
Brazil, for example, an important role is played by flex-fuel
technology. There exists a large production of sugar cane,

3 von 11

which is then converted into ethanol. This ethanol serves as an

alternative to fuels derived from crude oil. The fact that this fuel
is made from renewable raw materials means it has a notable
positive impact on carbon footprint.
In the United States, more and more flex-fuel vehicles are being
registered that can run on gasoline blends with up to 85
percent ethanol. Other countries and regions also take
advantage of this eco-friendly effect by blending biogenic and
fossil fuels with blending levels of between 5 and 20 percent
for both gasoline and diesel. In future, synthetic fuels based on
organic waste materials will also gain in significance.

Diesel plays a major role in fuel economy

In Europe, car drivers and the automotive industry regard diesel
as a solution, with half of all vehicles using this fuel-efficient
and hence low-CO2 technology. India is also a strong market for
diesel. In the United States, gasoline engines will continue to be
the powertrain of choice, with only a small but growing segment
of drivers opting for diesel-powered cars. In China, the worlds
fastest-growing automotive market, currently over 99 percent of
newly registered cars run on gasoline. Three percent of minibuses are diesel-powered, while three-quarters of newly
registered light commercial vehicles are fitted with a diesel
engine. Overall, we are expecting a shift toward more diesel
engines as well as growth in electric vehicles, since the Chinese
government is also aiming for low-CO2 mobility albeit without
specifying a preferred technology.

Even if views of which vehicle fuel is best for the environment

differ around the world, there is nonetheless only one way forward. The key to reaching the CO2 targets that have been set

4 von 11

for 2025 lies in the internal-combustion engine, but increasingly

also in hybrid powertrain concepts.

At the 2009 Automotive Press Briefing, Bosch elaborated on this

point: over the medium term, the fuel consumption and CO2
emissions of internal-combustion engines will drop by
30 percent both for gasoline and for diesel engines. In
addition, hybrid powertrains offer the chance to reduce
consumption and CO2 emissions by a further ten percent. Taken
together with the modifications automakers are making to
vehicles themselves including low-resistance tires, lightweight
construction, and reductions in drag this means fuel
consumption and CO2 emissions can be reduced in total by
around half from today's average level.

CO2-targets for 2020 are reachable

In other words, the European CO2 target for 2020 of 95 grams
per kilometer is feasible for vehicles with internal-combustion
engines. Bosch offers the automotive industry technology
packages with which to achieve the major savings required in
both diesel and gasoline engines.

If we consider the standard consumption of new vehicles in the

European market more closely, we see that a number of vehicle
models are already within the 2015 CO2 limit including some
midsize cars. For instance, in the compact car class, the VW
Golf TSI with its 77-kilowatt gasoline engine and 121 grams of
CO2 emissions consumes 5.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers.
The same Golf fitted with a diesel engine manages 99 grams or
3.8 liters. The Volvo C30D also emits 99 grams from its 84kilowatt engine.

5 von 11

But even in the upper mid-size category, the BMW 5-series

manages just 4.9 liters or 129 grams with its 135 kilowatts of
engine output.
The gasoline-powered Peugeot 508 emits 144 grams, while the
VW Passat emits 138 grams. Toyotas gasoline hybrids set the
standard in the compact class, with CO2 emissions of around
90 grams, depending on the model. Looking at heavier vehicles,
new diesel hybrid models have been announced that meet the
CO2 targets for 2020 such as the Peugeot 3008 featuring
Bosch hybrid technology.

If we look closely at the figures, we see that gasoline hybrids

have standard consumption values that are close to those of
comparable diesel vehicles. Both technologies are already
capable today of meeting the target levels that are being
discussed for 2020.

These interesting examples of current automotive industry

products show that our forecasts are realistic. Having said that,
most engine designs currently in series production offer plenty
of scope for consumption-reducing technologies that ultimately
allow the desired fleet limits to be met. And the stock of
technical improvement options we described in 2009 is by no
means exhausted even for the particularly low-consumption
vehicles I mentioned just now.

Downsizing the key to saving fuel

In terms of the engine itself, the most effective measure is
downsizing. Reducing displacement and the number of
cylinders reduces friction losses and means less moving mass.

6 von 11

An engine of this kind also has fewer thermal losses. It is the

job of engine developers to reduce displacement, and also the
number of cylinders where appropriate, while maintaining or
increasing engine performance.

An engine's performance can be maintained, even if developers

reduce the displacement and the number of cylinders, as long
as more air is directed to it per combustion cycle than it is able
to draw for itself. This is made possible by turbocharging, which
provides the engine with the volume of air needed to ensure
clean combustion.

From the end of 2011, Boschs joint venture Bosch Mahle Turbo
Systems will produce modern turbocharger systems which are
designed specifically for these new gasoline and diesel engine
concepts for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. We expect our joint venture to produce one million of these performance-optimized turbochargers in 2015.

The limits to downsizing are not fixed for displacement or for

the number of cylinders. In the end, engineers must see to it
that they improve efficiency while achieving an acceptable
balance between fuel efficiency, cost, driveability, and
convenience.

They can go about this through downsizing, which aims to increase performance per liter of displacement. In gasoline
engines, this must overcome what is known as the knock limit,
at which fuel ignites in an uncontrolled fashion and can cause
engine damage. Engineers can use gasoline direct injection to
cool the combustion chamber and at the same time achieve

7 von 11

good scavenging without fuel losses in the gas-exchange cycle.

In this way, the knock limit can be pushed toward higher loads
and degrees of supercharging. The result is impressive torque
figures even at low engine speed, something that was only
possible with diesel engines before.

Even the economical diesel still has potential

In diesel engines too, the potential of downsizing has still not
been exhausted. As charge-air pressure through the
turbocharger rises, our developers need to increase the
injection pressure of the common-rail system as well. This
higher injection pressure brings many benefits. It means more
diesel fuel can be injected in the same time, which allows a
better power yield because the specific power of the diesel
engine increases. Alternatively, engine developers can reduce
the diameter of the nozzle holes in the injectors while
maintaining engine power. When combined with multiple preand post-injections, this improves mixture formation in the
combustion chamber, saves fuel, and leads to cleaner exhaust
emissions. This is a particularly effective way of reducing
nitrogen-oxide emissions.

Engineers also take advantage of higher injection pressure in

order to prevent rising cylinder pressures and peak exhaust gas
temperatures at high levels of turbocharging from placing
greater strain on the engine design.

Bosch will start series production of the first 2,200 bar

common-rail system for passenger cars later this year. And
Bosch engineers are already working on a 2,500 bar common

8 von 11

rail. Even at these high injection pressures, we are not

encountering any technological barriers, although the engineers
are having to display ever finer technical prowess to achieve
these advances without increasing space and weight and
without losing hydraulic efficiency.

Todays passenger cars already comply with the Euro-6

standard for 2015
Even if injection pressure in common-rail systems rises further,
this pollution-reducing measure is by no means necessary in all
engines. In addition to diesel particle filters, engineers can now
turn to systems that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The first
passenger car systems have been in series production since
2008 in the United States and since 2009 in Europe. These
diesel vehicles already comply with the Euro 6 standard that
will apply from 2015.

These DeNOx systems allow compliance with future higher

emissions requirements at injection pressures of 1,600 bar. As
use of common-rail systems increases in Asian growth markets,
which demand particularly robust but affordable solutions, we
will equip systems in China and India with injection pressures
between 1,400 and 1,800 bar.

In diesel passenger cars, NOx exhaust gas treatment can also

be used to reduce the fuel consumption of the internalcombustion engine by up to 5 percent.

9 von 11

Bosch engineers are increasingly complementing all the technical measures being applied directly to gasoline and diesel engines with more efficient auxiliary systems. Additional CO2
improvements can be achieved by making systems demanddriven so that they are only operated or used when they are
really needed. Electrically driven water pumps, electric power
steering, and generators that recharge the battery primarily
when coasting serve to improve the vehicles overall efficiency.
One particularly effective example is the Bosch start-stop
system. It stops the engine at a red light and restarts it reliably
when the lights turn green. In the New European Driving Cycle,
this achieves a saving of some 4 percent, and as much as
8 percent in urban driving.

Tomorrows technology already available today

Bosch today offers the automotive industry a whole series of
components and systems that contribute significantly to more
economical driving and reduced CO2 emissions. For this reason,
vehicles are already in production with modern internalcombustion engines that come very close to policymakers targets. In
other words, the fleet consumption targets for 2020 are
reachable with modern technology.

Based on typical annual mileages for Europe and today's fuel

prices there, a comparison of the fuel consumption of the average car in 2010 with a car built in 2020 shows fuel cost savings
over three years of operation of between 1,000 and 1,500 euros.
In other words, drivers operating costs are likely be reduced by
more than enough to cover the cost of all the extra technology
they will have to buy in 2020 to make their cars more
economical. If we consider a normal vehicle service life of some

10 von 11

12 years, this amounts to fuel savings of 4,000 to 6,000 euros

and a reduction in CO2 emissions of between 6 and 11 metric
tons.

Looking beyond the range of technologies that already exist for

reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, Bosch engineers
are busy looking for ways to tap further savings potential both
in gasoline and in diesel engines. In both diesel and gasoline
engines, they are studying measures such as combustion
control using combustion chamber pressure sensors.
Or they are looking at variable valve control for diesel engines,
not just for gasoline engines as is the case today. Work could
also be done on transmissions to increase the efficiency of the
automotive system, on energy recovery from exhaust heat, or on
reducing the need for cooling.

Whatever the creative ideas engineers might come up with, the

experience we have garnered through developing pioneering
powertrain technologies gives us the confidence to say that
even the CO2 targets of 70 grams per kilometer, in discussion
for 2025, are achievable. We are working on tomorrows
technology, true to our strategic imperative Invented for life.

Thank you for your attention.

11 von 11