"On May 1 this year, Bosch officially established a commercial vehicle group in China.
At the recent Bosch Power China media conference, Wang Weiliang, President of the Board of Directors of Bosch Intelligent Mobility Group China and President of Bosch Power Systems China, revealed the news.
After the establishment of the new group, Bosch will build a diversified and intelligent powertrain for commercial vehicles, intelligent electronic steering technology for commercial vehicles, and autonomous driving technology for commercial vehicles into a systematic platform. In Bosch's definition, it means "deep empowerment" of industrial transformation.
The reason for this decision is based on the premise that China is and will be the world's largest commercial vehicle market, and Bosch hopes to strengthen cross-domain cooperation to provide full-stack technology solutions for commercial vehicles.
Since entering China in 2004, Bosch Powertrain has been mainly driven by emission upgrades, and has served the Chinese commercial vehicle market for 20 years.
Nowadays, as China's commercial vehicle industry enters a critical stage of transformation and upgrading, the powertrain is becoming more and more diversified.
What kind of thinking does Bosch, which undoubtedly has "leading experience" in the field of traditional internal combustion engines, think about industrial transformation? From new technologies, new products, and new layouts, Bosch has provided comprehensive answers.
Lithium batteries are not the only solution, and it is still important to optimize the efficiency of internal combustion engines
The Euro 7 emission regulations will be implemented from July 2025, and the official implementation of China 7 will not be far away. In the face of increasingly stringent emission restrictions, the development of electric vehicles has become a global consensus, but does this mean that the whole industry should go all in electrification?
"Bosch still attaches great importance to the internal combustion engine, which is a matter of human rights. Not all regions are suitable for the promotion of electric vehicles, some areas are more suitable for fuel vehicles, and people there also have the right to develop. Regarding the necessity of the existence of internal combustion engines, Wang Weiliang's views hit the nail on the head.
At present, the diversified energy structure is in line with China's existing national conditions, because the continent is vast and the development of different regions is uneven, in large cities, electrification and infrastructure are not problems, but in small and medium-sized cities or some rural areas there may be bottlenecks.
Of course, the internal combustion engine needs to be further developed to meet the emission requirements. Continuous improvement of thermal efficiency is essential in this process.
Diesel engines are one of Bosch's core businesses in the commercial vehicle sector. In addition to continuing to optimize the fuel injection system and aftertreatment system, upgrading to all-electronic control is also an important strategy for Bosch. Upgrading from mechanical control to electronic control, i.e. common rail technology, has been the line Bosch has been adhering to for 20 years.
On April 20, Weichai released the world's first commercial diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of more than 53%. Bosch and Weichai are also long-term strategic partners, which also reflects the importance Bosch attaches to the local value chain of commercial vehicles and Chinese brands.
Tapping the market potential of alternative fuels, hydrogen fuel internal combustion engines have made breakthroughs
Emissions from internal combustion engines do not come from the combustion engine itself, but from the fuel, so in the case of an internal combustion engine, the type of fuel determines whether it has emissions or not. Burning fossil fuels produces emissions, whereas burning electronically synthetic fuels, no fuel is produced.
For example, methanol fuel can be produced from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and methanol is used in the engine to become carbon dioxide, and the carbon dioxide produced here is hedged against the original carbon dioxide, so it does not cause additional emissions.
Based on this, Wang Weiliang believes that alternative fuels will play an important role in the international green transition, including methanol powertrains and the hydrogen internal combustion engine that Bosch has invested heavily in research and development in recent years.
"The internal combustion engine itself is not a sin, it is a huge technological advance, and the key depends on what energy source is used. If hydrogen is used, it is zero carbon emissions. Wang Weiliang further explained.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, Bosch exhibited for the first time a low-pressure direct injection system for hydrogen internal combustion engines, which can greatly improve the efficiency of energy utilization, and is expected to be put into mass production in 2026.
Industrialization is the key to the promotion of hydrogen powertrain. In 2021, Bosch established hydrogen energy R&D centers in Chongqing and Wuxi to promote localized R&D and commercialization. Among them, the Chongqing R&D center is Bosch's largest R&D center for Class A hydrogen fuel cells in the world, which was officially put into use in November last year.
Significantly reducing costs and keeping them under control is a prerequisite for the promotion of hydrogen combustion engines, so Bosch's strategy is to take the development and production of the entire system into its own hands. From hydrogen power modules to stacks, to membrane electrodes and bipolar plates, hydrogen power modules with different power levels provide efficient, reliable and flexible hydrogen fuel cell solutions for commercial vehicles in various use scenarios.
At present, the production capacity of Bosch's 300 kW hydrogen power modules in China is increasing year by year. From 70 units in 2021, to 500 units in 2022, to 1,000 units in 2023. This year, Bosch is confidently targeting 5,000 units, and the reason why it is so confident is inseparable from Bosch's strong support for the hydrogen industry. Bosch is promoting the adaptation and promotion of hydrogen fuel cells from Chongqing to all parts of the world, in Beijing, Tianjin, Wuxi, Hefei and other places in cold chain logistics, intercity and long-distance logistics, and sanitation vehicles.
Rich product portfolio to promote the transformation and upgrading of commercial vehicles
In the development of diversified commercial vehicle powertrains, the route based on lithium batteries will undoubtedly occupy an important position. To this end, Bosch, as an automotive parts giant, has integrated capabilities and a rich product portfolio.
For different types of commercial vehicles, Bosch has efficient and highly integrated solutions for both motors and electronic controls.
For parallel-shaft electric axles for 4.5-ton to 10-ton pure electric and extended-range commercial vehicles, Bosch has developed a high-efficiency flat-wire motor and an all-in-one control unit with silicon carbide technology to achieve both high torque and reliability and safety, which will be mass-produced in 2023.
In order to meet the demand for 3.5-ton light commercial vehicles, Bosch has also launched a new portfolio of motors and all-in-one control units this year, which are more compact, lighter and modular, all of which make the vehicle layout more convenient and can be adapted to the coaxial electric axle of light trucks, light buses and pickup trucks.
For heavy-duty commercial vehicles, Bosch launched heavy-duty electric axles last year, which can be matched with pure electric, hydrogen fuel cell or series hybrid models.
On the other hand, EBS is also a key product for Bosch in the commercial vehicle segment. Wang Weiliang believes that 2026 will be a key year for EBS to develop in China's truck market. Driven by regulations, the adoption of EBS will increase significantly. The great significance of EBS lies first in its safety, in addition, it is very important to improve the efficiency of EBS, the particulate matter generated in the current braking process has exceeded the engine emission particulate matter standard stipulated in Euro 7, such as fully combining intelligent driving, intelligent control and intelligent electric drive, which is a problem that needs to be paid attention to.
At this year's Beijing Auto Show, Bosch's electronically controlled pneumatic braking system (EBS) was also unveiled for the first time, which controls vehicle braking through electronic signals to achieve safer and more efficient braking with more intelligent and precise control. This is an innovative, safe, reliable and intelligent braking system solution for commercial vehicles, which was developed by Bosch's local core team in cross-domain cooperation. It has already been tested at a first-tier domestic automaker and is scheduled to start mass production by the end of 2024.
04 is written at the end
On January 1 this year, Bosch's Automotive & Intelligent Transportation Technology business was officially renamed "Bosch Intelligent Mobility Group" after reorganization, which is the largest structural adjustment of the auto parts giant in 138 years. The new Smart Mobility Group includes passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and smart mobility-related technologies such as semiconductors and chips.
Bosch believes that commercial vehicles need to be more integrated, which is why Bosch has made a further big move to establish a commercial vehicle group in China. It is expected that Bosch will continue to bring innovative thinking to the industry under the diversified commercial vehicle powertrain route in the future.