Bitauto News On September 26, Bosch, the world's leading technology and service provider, made its debut at the 2020 Beijing International Auto Show. Focusing on the theme of "Quality Bosch", Bosch showcased a series of innovative technologies and cutting-edge solutions for future-oriented electrification, automation, and interconnected transportation. At this auto show, fuel cell stacks, silicon carbide power devices, and smart cockpits will be exhibited in China for the first time. “The epidemic will not pause the transformational changes in the automotive industry. Despite the huge challenges posed by transformational changes and severe market conditions, Bosch will continue to invest in important business growth areas such as fuel cell technology, autonomous driving and automotive electronic and electrical architecture. and continuous innovation,” said Dr. Stefan Hartung, member of the Board of Directors of Bosch Group and Chairman of the Automotive and Intelligent Transportation Technology Business Unit. “Bosch Group’s investment in electrification, automation and connected transportation will remain high this year, and is expected to exceed 1 billion euros.”
Provide comprehensive products for new energy vehicles
China is the world's largest new energy vehicle market. Bosch has invested heavily in and developed this field for many years, providing a comprehensive product portfolio for hybrid and electric vehicles, including motors, electric axles, power electronic controllers, on-board power distribution units, 48V systems, braking and steering systems, etc. . At present, Bosch has become the largest motor supplier in China in terms of shipments outside of main engine manufacturers. This year, Bosch's bridges and IGBT power modules will be the first to achieve mass production and supply them to customers in China. At the same time, in order to support China's new energy vehicle market, Bosch launched the latest research and development of silicon carbide power devices. Compared with traditional silicon-based material products, silicon carbide power devices maintain lower energy loss and smaller chip area while achieving higher switching frequencies, increasing the cruising range of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles by up to 6%. Bosch's silicon carbide power devices were demonstrated for the first time at the Beijing Auto Show this year, marking their global debut.
Serving the Chinese commercial vehicle market with diversified powertrain technology solutions
For commercial vehicles, Bosch provides diversified powertrain solutions. On the one hand, Bosch continues to invest in the development of efficient internal combustion engine technology. Not long ago, Bosch and Weichai announced that they had successfully increased the thermal efficiency of Weichai's diesel truck engine to 50%, which represents a major innovative breakthrough in engine technology and has set a new industry benchmark globally. Bosch provides Weichai with the most advanced 2,500 bar modular rail system and professional fuel system technical support. In addition, Bosch is also actively promoting the continuous upgrading of natural gas technology. The first National VI natural gas project has achieved mass production in 2019, and the locally developed high-flow gas nozzle assembly will be mass-produced by the end of this year. On the other hand, Bosch has fully developed its electrification layout, and its technology covers commercial vehicle electrification and hydrogen fuel cells. At this auto show, Bosch exhibited fuel cell stacks, as well as key components such as electronic air compressors, hydrogen injectors, and hydrogen circulation pumps. The stack was displayed in China for the first time. This further highlights Bosch's strategy to develop hydrogen fuel cells in China. To this end, Bosch continues to invest in and promote the local development of this technology and cooperate with local customers. Bosch China's fuel cell center will be completed by the end of this year, and small-volume production of stacks is expected to begin next year.
Gathering expertise to provide cross-domain software and electronic solutions
As the automotive industry transitions to digitalization, in-vehicle software and electronic systems are growing rapidly and become the key to future automotive development. Bosch is a leader in the field of automotive electronics and has accumulated 40 years of research and development experience in the field of automotive software, with annual expenditures reaching 3 billion euros. Bosch will officially establish a new intelligent driving and control division in early 2021 to provide electronic systems and necessary software to existing and new customers in a unified manner. This business unit focuses on developing future-oriented automotive electronic and electrical architectures, coordinating vehicle computers, control units and sensors. The smooth interaction of these three achieves perfect compatibility and produces advantageous synergy, which will play a decisive role in the future development of automobiles. In response to the need to centrally process in-car information and integrate multiple operating systems, Bosch launched an innovative product, the Cockpit Domain Controller, at this auto show. It can support multiple displays at the same time and integrate multiple functional requirements to help car manufacturers Provide users with a coherent and comfortable driving experience.
Bosch's vehicle remote upgrade solution also continues to evolve in response to industry needs. It has expanded from SOTA upgrades for infotainment systems and FOTA upgrades for the entire vehicle ECU to remote measurement, remote cloud diagnosis, and big data platforms that support the entire vehicle life cycle. and algorithmic overall solution. In addition, Bosch is cooperating with China Mobile to incubate FOTA SaaS (Software as a Service), providing fast and easy-to-use solutions for small and medium-sized customers.
Autonomous driving: Innovative technology takes the lead in China
Bosch continues to invest in innovation in the field of autonomous driving, and actively promotes the mass production and commercial application of the latest technology in China with local partners. In the past decade, Bosch has cooperated with local OEMs on a large number of local applications on many driver assistance functions such as adaptive cruise, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, automatic parking assistance, traffic jam assistance, and highway assistance. This year, Bosch's world's first highway assist enhancement function with automatic lane change and remote control parking technology that relies on smart keys or mobile phones have been mass-produced in the Chinese market. In 2021, a new highway assistance function led by China and developed through global cooperation, as well as the world's first ADAS commercial vehicle project (lane keeping function) will also be put into mass production in China.
In terms of highly autonomous driving, Bosch is promoting the scenario-based application of automatic valet parking technology in China. Previous application demonstrations corresponding to Daimler’s launch in Beijing. At the same time, Bosch is also working closely with local OEMs such as GAC Research Institute. This year, Bosch will further combine EV robot charging with automatic valet parking technology, allowing electric vehicles to automatically complete parking and parking without human intervention. The charging process greatly improves the utilization efficiency of electric vehicle charging piles, thereby solving electric vehicle range anxiety. This groundbreaking technology will be the first to be piloted in Shanghai to meet the needs of Chinese users for future travel convenience.
Deepening China’s strategic layout: increasing local innovation and R&D
China has always been Bosch’s strategic core market in terms of business growth or transformation. As the automotive industry faces economic challenges and reshaping changes, Bosch is committed to seizing market opportunities for future growth and providing customers with more valuable innovative products and solutions. "Bosch will continue to adhere to the long-term development strategy of 'rooted in the local area and serve the local area' in China, increase local innovation and research and development, and combine the advantages of hardware and software to help future intelligent transportation." Executive Vice President of Bosch (China) Investment Co., Ltd. President Dr. Xu Daquan said. Bosch currently has more than 7,800 R&D personnel in China, an increase of more than 300 from the previous year. The Bosch China Innovation and Software R&D Center has started team work this year, and its new building will be completed and opened in Wuxi soon to further integrate and strengthen China's local software development capabilities. Bosch has established its seventh artificial intelligence center in the world in Shanghai to promote the research and development of local artificial intelligence cutting-edge technologies. In addition, Changsha Thermal Management System Laboratory and Ningbo Two-wheeled Vehicle Production and R&D Base will also be put into use this year.