Vehicle Concepts

The research topic Vehicle Concepts is concerned with all topics that appear on the way to an accurate vehicle concept. There are studies which main characteristics have a big influence on the vehicle concept and which characteristics can play a less important role. In conjunction with these general considerations the design of electric vehicles is elaborated. In detail, the topics are:

• Design of a Tool which determines a realistic vehicle concept based on certain main characteristics.
• Development of a vehicle property profile based on individual recorded user data
• Analysis of methods of reducing the CO2 emissions of trucks.
• Conception of market-driven vehicle concepts for China

The drivers control task gets more and more complex at today’s road traffic. Supported by sophisticated control and assistance systems, the driver is able to focus on the basic driving task.
The field of research includes automatic controller calibration, design of fault-tolerant controller concepts and development of advanced state observers.
The research projects use a wide range of simulation techniques accessible at FTM e.g. offline Simulation; Model-, Software- or Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation; MKS-Simulation; …

The dynamic behavior of vehicles is an important part of driving safety. Each vehicle interacts strongly with the driver and the environment. Together they form a self-contained closed-loop control system. The research focus of the institute of automotive technology  is on both the development of innovative concepts of vehicle dynamics control and their subjective assessment by the driver. New approaches in vehicle dynamics simulation and standardized driving tests enable the quantification of the lateral vehicle dynamics.

The second core area is built by energy efficient suspentions. A important requirement for modern suspenstions is beside safety and comfort the energy and weight efficiency. So that the suspention of electric vehicles makes a contribution to reduce the costs for the energy storage.

Contact:  Dipl.-Ing. M. Graf

The research group Smart Mobility is dedicating itself to topics concerning electromobility in which electric vehicles are brought into a larger perspective. This applies not to the vehicle itself but to applications and services that go beyond.

An important pillar are fleet tests with electric vehicles in which the behaviour of different user groups can be analyzed. Thereby the use of all means of transports is included thus enabling an integral focus. Aim of this research is to derive requirements for electric vehicles with regard to different user groups as well as requirements for the related infrastructure.

Another focus is the use of smart phones for various services concerning mobility and the potential of server based services. Further research topics are the integration of electric vehicles in the existing and future energy supply system.

Contact: Dipl.-Ing. S. Grubwinkler  

The focus of the research topic Electric Vehicle Components is research on and technical development of the specific new and changed components of electric vehicles.
The question of required adaptions to existing components or development of new ones and the resulting influence to vehicle, vehicle application and production.
Research on these component's impact to the entire vehicle, development of new and improved electric vehicle components, such as lithium ion battery systems and their electronics or affected secondary components is done in simulation and with help of prototypes and experiments.

It is concerned with following topics:
Build-up of a modular simulation environment for electric vehicles allowing for different levels of detail for specific components
Development of battery packs and battery systems
Development of battery and energy mangement systems
Analysis of methods to improve cruising range of EVs