Bosch well positioned to support India’s electrification future: Jan Oliver

By Anuj Sharma - February 8, 2018
bosch
In India, Bosch is a leading supplier of technology and services in the areas of mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and building technology and has largest R&D in th....

Geared towards making electromobility a sustainable reality for vehicle manufacturers and fleet operators in India, Bosch is well positioned to actively support India’s electrification future, a top executive from the German auto component maker has said.

‘We have a decade long experience in the market and are spending approximately 400 billion euros a year in developing solutions. And as a leading tier-I supplier, our focus is always to come up with solutions. Policies will evolve over time, but we will not wait for them to develop new solutions,’ Jan Oliver, Chief Technical Officer, Mobility Solutions, Bosch, told Xite.

‘Our current and future portfolio of electromobility solutions will be one of the key contributing factors that will lead to a dynamic ecosystem in the country,’ added Oliver.

Bosch has largest research and development centre in the country outside of Germany, for end to end engineering and technology solutions.

Bosch Group in India employs over 31,000 associates and generated consolidated revenue of about Rs. 20,178 crores in 2017.

In line with the Indian government’s initiative to go all-electric by 2030 and with the BS-VI coming in, Oliver said that Bosch will be completely ready with the lineup by January 1, 2030.

Further, to be able to respond to local requirements even better, Bosch has set up a new ‘Agile Project House’ at its operations in India. The project house is working on prototype development and system integration to feasibly get electric vehicles and electromobility solutions on Indian streets.

‘We have a menu card for all the technologies which are relevant for the Indian market, and we offer these technologies in the manner market requires them. Our focus is always local for local, and we have over 15 manufacturing facilities in India alone,’ added Navin Paul, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing of Mobility Solutions, Bosch, India.

The company provides scalable solutions from 0.25kW to 300kW across segments from two-wheeler to commercial vehicles to make the powertrain more powerful and energy efficient.

‘There is growing demand for EVs in India, however, Indian climatic conditions, including heat, cold and humidity, represent a major challenge for battery management in EVs to be fully scalable,’ Oliver said, adding that India is still not ready for charging infrastructure. ‘It is a problem – yes, but it can happen in parallel, but it needs to be done.’

Bosch demonstrated an indigenously developed, fully electric high-voltage vehicle systems with the 400 Volt, 85kW powertrain – one of the first of its kind in the Indian market at Bosch Technology Exposition 2018.

According to Oliver, the major demand is not coming from top tiers but from low segments including two-wheelers, three-wheelers and buses. Further, Oliver believes that all the key stakeholders must work together to drive electric mobility across the portfolio of two-, three- and four-wheelers.

Bosch’s solutions for light electromobility offer a range of 0.25kW to 20kW and enable acceleration in e-scooters from 0 to 45kmph in less than five seconds. The company offers intelligent energy recuperation and high battery safety, apart from also offering a range of up to 125km on e-scooters.

‘We have the competences to develop solution that are relevant to the market, and we are closely engaged with all the OEMs in India. And soon in 2018 there will be launches in the two-wheeler side,’ Oliver told Xite.

And while Bosch is strongly focusing on electric vehicles, the company is continuously refining system engineering in Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) with advanced injection technologies, exhaust gas treatments and hybrid systems to reduce emissions and meet stringent emission norms, increase efficiency and make them more cost effective.

‘We not only support OEMs by engineering technology for the right products but also support them by affordable solutions by localising most of them in India which indirectly represents opportunity for Bosch in India,’ Paul emphasised.

Bosch is also the market’s largest manufacturer of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors that sends information about airbag-related events, ESP-related movements and more safety signals to drivers, and it produces close to four million MEMS sensors every day. The company is also one of the biggest producers of semiconductors for mobility solutions and one of the driving forces behind the technology of IP modules that save lives, resources and costs.

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