The presentation discusses the challenges and developments in non-conventional powertrains, particularly hybrid and electric technologies, highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary teams and the resistance to change in adopting these innovations. It addresses market dynamics, consumer hesitance, and strategies for engaging both vehicle manufacturers and consumers, emphasizing the need for education, innovation, and trust in new technologies. Punch Powertrain aims to lead the transition in automotive propulsion while seeking to expand its workforce and capabilities.

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HURDLES WHEN DEVELOPING, BUILDING AND
MARKETING TOMORROW’S VEHICLE
Patrick Debal
Powertrain Expert Advanced Development
Punch Powertrain R&D
Green Drive Conference
22-23 September 2016
Antwerp

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This presentation is based on nearly 20 years involvement in non-
conventional, mainly hybrid and electric powertrain development. It is
based on personal experience, experience from others as well as published
information.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are irrelevant
for the message I want to bring. Any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead, or companies, dead or alive, or actual events or situations is
purely coincidental.
Introduction
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• Multidisciplinary teams
• Resistance to change
• Going to the Market – OEMs
• Going to the Market – Consumers
• Additional Material
Contents
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Multidisciplinary Teams
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Battery
Chemist
Electric
Engineer
Electronic
Engineer
Controls
Engineer
Mechanical
Engineer
LiCoO2 – Li+ –
e– ↔ Li0.5CoO2
6C + Li+ + e–
↔ LiC6
dM = 2 * Ω * θ * ω *
L * r³ * sin²(θ) * d θ *
dr

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Universities and training institutes can help by:
• Broad education and training:
– Major: develop in depth knowledge
– Minor: know how to apply and get involved with specialists
– Other: able to connect with specialists and understand the big picture
• Projects needing multidisplinary approach and team work:
– Get the taste during studying by performing projects
– Develop eagerness to work in team
• Internships in industry:
– First experience with close follow-up and coaching
– Step towards employment
Multidisciplinary Teams
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If not all disciplines are present within one company
Need for a multicompany multidisciplinary team
Approach:
• Look for complementary partner(s) to avoid possible conflicts
• Be prepared to show openess as proof of trust
• Avoid initiating suspicion and prevent further escalation if it appears
• Establish a working relationship like between colleagues
• Do not hesitate to help solve a partner’s problem
Multidisciplinary Teams
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• People have a tendency to oppose change
• Development of alternative powertrains is a big change:
– New skills needed: new people to hire and others to be trained
– Investment for new technology (test equipment, production equipment, …)
– Management to convince are on average older and not familiar with the new
technology
• Adopting new, unknown technology includes risks:
– Will the battery/motor/electronics last long enough?
– Are the proposed developments the right solutions?
– …
• And risk aversity leads to tougher requirements for new technology
Resistance to Change
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• Risk aversity leads to tougher requirements for new technology
– Back-up solutions
– Larger safety factors
– Fairly simple solutions are not trusted
• Train the people to work with new technology in prototyping and
production and take the necessary safety measures
• Irrealistic claims of external developments are considered to be true
– Spend time and resources to prove that the claims are not realistic
– Even then they keep on haunting your project
Resistance to Change
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• Implementing the production equipment for new powertrain technologies
requires more investments:
– “More-of-the-same” only requires “updates” of equipment and skills
– Producing new powertrain technologies requires:
• New machinery to produce and test parts and components
• New skills, either hiring new skilled employees or retrain current employees
• Steep learning curve required to cope with automotive volumes
• New powertrain technologies also involves new suppliers:
– Build new long term relationships
– Can involve new countries and new cultures
• Accidents with new technology are highlighted and increase the resistance
Resistance to Change
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Resistance to Change
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Resistance to Change
11
A report putting the accident into
the right context does not.
“Based on the available data,
NHTSA does not believe that
Chevy Volts or other electric
vehicles pose a greater risk of fire
than gasoline-powered vehicles.”
A Tesla on fire gets the attention of
the world wide press.

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Punch Powertrain builds the powertrain and not the complete vehicle. So we
are a Tier-1 and our market consists of the vehicle manufacturers (OEMs).
• The benchmark for the OEMs is the Toyota Prius
• So some OEMs expect the same low fuel consumption without doing the
same efforts on the vehicle as Toyota did
• Some OEMs lack trust in the new technology and require back-ups
• The higher cost of new technology is hard to accept
• Fuel consumption data of conventional vehicles are not realistic anymore,
so the fuel saving you present is much smaller than what can be achieved
in reality
Going to the Market - OEMs
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Consumers are fairly conservative when investing in expensive goods:
• Prefer to let others take the risk of buying new technology
• Reluctant to pay the hybrid/EV cost premium
• A fuel efficient car is not as attractive as a muscle car
• A hybrid car is sometimes a compromise (e.g. less luggage space)
• Some sales representatives can be misleading:
– Claim cars with start/stop systems are hybrids
– Redirect potential customers to conventional cars because the margin is higher
– Forget to mention the lower maintence cost, especially for EVs
• Mixed messages, contradictions or twisted information
Going to the Market - Consumers
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Some concerns when buying non-conventional vehicles:
• Battery life and possible replacement cost
• Resale value
• In particular for EV:
– range anxiety
– charge time
– public charging infrastructure
• Assumption of poor performance
 It takes time to convince the consumer
Going to the Market - Consumers
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Market conditions:
• Current low oil prices do not favour non-conventional vehicles
– Is this intentional?
– Or is this “welcome” collateral damage for OPEC?
• Dieselgate and further “fall out” reveal that conventional vehicles
– Are not as clean as they should be
– Have a higher fuel consumption than in the catalogues
• Consequently
– Diesel vehicles may become as expensive as hybrids
– Electric vehicles may have the lowest total cost of ownership
Going to the Market - Consumers
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How to convince the consumer:
• Extended warranty on the powertrain and batteries
• Lower the cost premium especially at ramp up
• Publish case studies and testimonies proving:
– the reliability
– the energy efficiency
– the user experience
• Government incentives may reduce the cost premium
Going to the Market - Consumers
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Driving in a fuel efficient way with a hybrid takes some time to
investigate the powertrain behavior and potential.
Gradually the driver builds insights into the powertrain
operation and the information he/she sees on the dashboard.
Then the driver and powertrain work together.
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
5,0
5,5
6,0
6,5
7,0
7,5
18/11/2010 17/05/2011 13/11/2011 11/05/2012 7/11/2012 6/05/2013 2/11/2013 1/05/2014 28/10/2014 26/04/2015 23/10/2015 20/04/2016 17/10/2016
FuelConsumption[l/100km]
Date
Prius Real World Fuel Consumption
FC_inst
FC_year
FC_over
Catalog
MY2016
MY2010
Additional Material
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Punch Powertrain is the fastest growing large enterprise in Belgium. So we
are continuously looking for new colleagues. We offer a very dynamic working
environment where people can further grow and development themselves
while helping to create the automotive future.
More information on http://www.punchpowertrain.com/en/careers
Additional Material
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Thank you for your attention!
For more info about us, please visit our website www.punchpowertrain.com
PUNCH POWERTRAIN NV
Industriezone Schurhovenveld 4 125 | BE-3800 Sint-Truiden | Belgium | +32 11 67 91 11 | info@punchpowertrain.com | sales@punchpowertrain.com