Alternative Drive Systems At Daimler AG For The Mobility Of The Future

The internal combustion engine is undergoing fundamental changes on the way to achieving sustainable mobility

The internal combustion engine seems the perfect drive system for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Since the invention of the gasoline-powered automobile in 1886 by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, each working independently of the other, and the subsequent introduction of the diesel engine, it has become the global standard.

This has been helped by the many advantages it offers: today’s engines are powerful and refined, relatively compact, durable, and require little maintenance. Energy supplies in the form of fuel can easily be transported and replenished as and when required. The range of distances that can be traveled is large, and there is a dense network of gas stations. The vehicles are easy to operate and offer great flexibility of use. Additionally, over the years, the drive systems have managed to keep pace with ever more stringent environmental regulations. Daimler AG and its predecessor companies have played major roles in this development.

Yet, despite the enormous technological advancements over more than 120 years of automotive history, vehicles with internal combustion engines are still merely an approximation of the ideal automobile. The growing awareness of environmental issues and one’s own health risks gives rise to ever greater demands for propulsion concepts other than the conventional ones.

Technology categorizes solutions of this kind under the heading “Alternative Drive Systems.” This encompasses all types of technical propulsion using any other means than an internal combustion engine, and the definition also extends to vehicles other than road vehicles: Solutions are being sought for automobiles, and equally for ships and airplanes. Which, in the best tradition of things, brings us back to Gottlieb Daimler, who always spoke of motorization “on land, on water and in the air” when describing the areas of application for the internal combustion engine.

From a present-day perspective, for example, alternative drive systems include fuel cells using hydrogen as an energy carrier, and also all-electric drive systems. Researchers are also focusing on new fuels for use in conventional engines as possible replacements for gasoline or diesel, such as alcohols or gases. A special role is played by internal combustion engines other than the widely used reciprocating piston engine, for example the Wankel, Stirling, or turbine engines. And hybrid concepts are constantly considered to be the bridging technology to achieving a zero-emission drive system. In today’s automobiles, these generally consist of a combination of combustion engine and electric motor.

So there are many different variants for alternative drive systems, illustrating just how much scientists and engineers enjoy experimenting. And there are good reasons for this: they want to provide the automobile of the future with a better drive system, one that is cleaner or more economical, for example, than existing systems. This search will not end at a particular point, but will be constantly repeated after each new and successful innovation.

Source: Daimler

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