When it was launched in January 2013, Hybrid Air was instantly hailed as one of the most promising automotive powertrain innovations of recent times. PSA’s Hybrid Air technology, developed in partnership with Bosch, will enable the OEM to launch a battery-free gasoline hybrid car, thanks to its innovative use of compressed air to store energy, instead of a battery. It will first appear in a sub-€20,000 B-segment car to be launched in 2016, which, according to PSA data, will emit just 69g CO2/km – 45% less than a three-cylinder gasoline engine. The technology is so affordable, says PSA Peugeot Citroën’s Director of Research, Innovation and Advanced Technologies, Jean-Marc Finot, that in terms of cost of ownership, it will be competitive with a diesel offering over a ten year period.
“The advantage of this system is the fuel economy in the town cycle,” explains Finot, “because you save energy in a shorter time than with pure electric hybrid technology.”
From a technical point of view, the project is validated, says Finot. “We are now seeking an OEM partner to launch it with and to share investment costs.” PSA already has a partner, General Motors, with which it signed a strategic alliance in 2012. However, Hybrid Air will not be launched in partnership with GM, says Finot. “Currently, GM has its own hybrid strategy. It is not in the scope of the current projects, but it could be a study afterwards.”
At its Innovation Day launch in January 2013, PSA said Hybrid Air would initially be targeted at B- and C-segment cars, as well as light commercial vehicles. “That is our first target,” says Finot, “because this technology is efficient and we think that it could be fitted on this kind of car affordably and sold in high volumes.”
In terms of where PSA thinks Hybrid Air will be most successful, Finot sees it as a solution to emissions problems in markets where other more expensive alternatives are not economically viable: “The advantage of Hybrid Air is that it is a simpler technology than electric hybrid, and it can be easily industrialised all over the world. It’s also easier to maintain in the dealer network. Of course, our target will be to sell it in Europe, but it could be more easily spread all over the world than pure electric hybrid vehicles.”
Another advantage of Hybrid Air is that it can be built into an existing platform, it does not need to be developed into an all-new vehicle: “This technology is suitable for our current EMP1 and EMP2 platforms,” says Finot. “It’s not exactly a plug-and-play technology, we have a little work to do, but we don’t have to design a new platform.”
Whilst Hybrid Air is yet to come to market, PSA’s HYbrid4 technology has been commercially available since 2011, when it launched in the Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4. Coupling a diesel powertrain with an electric motor on the rear axle, HYbrid4 turns front wheel drive cars into 4WD. The OEM now offers HYbrid4 versions of the 508 sedan and RXH, and the Citroën DS5 too.
“HYbrid4 is for our high-end cars, and Hybrid Air is for B and C-segment cars,” says Finot, adding that the scope for Hybrid Air could be broadened beyond B- and C- segments.
PSA is cautiously preparing itself for the post-2020 era, when legislation on emissions and fuel consumption is widely expected to become increasingly challenging for OEMs. “Like all other OEMs, we don’t know what the best technology will be after 2020. Many of us have therefore already launched stop/start technology, for example, and in our case also HYbrid4. We have many technologies in the portfolio: some are validated and ready to be launched. For example, we also have plug-in vehicle technology that has been validated, and at our Innovation Day in January, we presented the ELV, an urban electric vehicle.We have these technologies on the shelf and we are ready to develop and launch them when we find a business case and a market.”
In July, Bosch and PSA unveiled Optimal Energy Consumption and Recovery solution (OpEneR), their latest collaborative development. As its name suggests, OpEneR is designed to reduce fuel consumption by enabling freewheeling or regenerative braking for hybrids and electric vehicles.
PSA was very quick to market with the Peugeot iOn and the Citroen C-Zero – the two Mitsubishi i-MiEV-based EVs that it launched in 2010. It also has a light commercial vehicle programme with an electrified powertrain. With Hybrid Air under way, and HYbrid4 proving more successful than the iOn and C- Zero, the emphasis at PSA looks to be on hybrid technology rather than pure battery EVs.
“In our strategy, we think that hybrid technology has greater potential,” says Finot.“But the electric vehicle is a good technology for town usage, so we have to be ready to launch this technology when the rules and the consumers demand it.”
Martin Kahl
This article first appeared in the Q3 issue of Megatrends magazine. To read more, download your free copy today.
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