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Focus on Electronics
42 V will enable 10% better fuel economy
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Automakers will adopt 42-V electrical systems faster than previously thought because the switch from 14-V systems will produce substantial savings in fuel cost and a reduction in emissions, according to a study released by Standard & Poor's. The 100-page study conducted among worldwide vehicle manufacturers and suppliers concludes the more-powerful systems would pay for themselves by enabling fuel-consumption savings of 10% or more with no capital investment. The study also finds that the market for such systems, which would also improve overall passenger comfort and safety, will be substantial, predicting that 25-35% of the light vehicles produced in North America, Europe, and Japan will have 42-V systems by 2010.
"With a stronger OPEC pushing oil prices higher, and a global awareness of the need to reduce CO2 emissions, the fuel economy technologies enabled by 42-V electrical systems suggest that this is a technology that can benefit everyone," said Philip Gott, Principal of Standard & Poor's DRI.
Automotive electrical-system voltages higher than the present-day standard have been actively studied by the industry since the 1980s. Researchers have recognized that the total onboard power demand will eventually exceed the capabilities of current 14-V electrical generators. It became internationally accepted that 42 V would be the most appropriate for conventional passenger cars and light trucks. To be cost effective, higher-voltage systems and components would have to be adopted in high volumes quickly, because it was believed that the market would not pay the price for the higher-voltage components used in only a few applications; and until recently, many believed that those high volumes would be unlikely since the loads that justified them were expected only in luxury cars.
But Standard & Poor's expects that 42 V will become a self-supporting phenomenon. The benefits the higher voltage provides will become prerequisites to satisfying market demand for improved comfort and convenience and regulatory requirements for reduced emissions and fuel consumption. While Renault SA recently announced it will roll out a model with a combination of 14- and 42-V power in 2004, with a complete 42-V system not expected until 2007, Standard & Poor's predicts that 42-V systems will be first applied within two years to vehicles in which the benefits it enables will be of greatest value to the vehicle owner.
Raising the level of comfort and convenience the automotive industry can offer its customers will force investment in the required new technologies—particularly motors, heating devices, dc/dc converters, and electronic devices—to satisfy the demand for a new level of benefits, according to the report. The 42-V systems could also permit new entrants in the automotive industry due to the potential of this technology.
Kevin Jost
AEI September 2000
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