HANOVER, Germany — Continental has not yet spun off its powertrain division — to be called Vitesco Technologies — but the supplier is already displaying some of the technologies it hopes to pitch to automakers in the coming years.
Chief among them is a 48-volt drive system that Continental says allows full-electric operation without the complexity, cost and weight of a typical high-voltage hybrid.
The system consists of a new 30 kW, water-cooled electric motor positioned between the combustion engine and the transmission, and power electronics that Continental says have been optimized to handle higher currents and are more efficient.
Even though the system is 48 volts rather than high-voltage, as in a conventional hybrid, Continental says it does not consider it to be a “mild” hybrid because of its ability to operate in electric-only mode.
Executives would not provide range figures, but say they expect CO2 emissions reductions of around 20 percent, compared with 10 percent for…
