This paper analyses the cost competitiveness of different electrified propulsion technologies for the German auto market in 2020. Several types of hybrid electric vehicles including parallel hybrids (with and without external charging) and a serial range extended electric vehicle are compared to a conventional car with SI engine, a full battery electric vehicle and a hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicle. Special focus lies on the maintenance and repair cost and the expected resale value of alternative vehicles, which have been integrated within one extensive total cost of ownership model. The assessment shows that the current TCO gaps for alternative drivetrains will decrease significantly by 2020 mainly driven by the reduction in production cost. Furthermore hybrid electric vehicles will profit from lower maintenance and repair cost and a higher expected resale value compared to conventional cars. Therefore, hybrid electric vehicles will be an attractive option in particular for users with high annual mileages, who can benefit from the low operating cost of EVs in combination with unlimited driving range. The analysis concludes that there will not be one dominant powertrain design in the midterm future. Hence, automakers have to manage a wide portfolio of competing drivetrain architectures, which will increase the risk and complexity of strategic decisions.

Optimization of the battery size of PHEVs and EREVs under German market conditions. Focus on heterogeneity across drivers (e.g. mileage, trip distribution, speed). Optimal battery size strongly depends on the driving profile and energy prices. OEMs require a modular design for their batteries to meet individual requirements.

The paper introduces an innovative utility-based approach to model customer choice for alternative powertrain technologies within a dynamic scenario tool. The study covers a wide portfolio of different powertrain concepts from conventional combustion engines to advanced hybrid and electric cars. The assessment of their economic and technical attributes builds on a large set of vehicle simulation data and detailed cost models. In contrast to previous cost-based studies the applied methodology maps the observed diversity of user characteristics more realistically. Therefore, the driving behaviour and preferences of car buyers are analysed empirically based on major representative surveys and the resulting distribution functions are integrated in the model. After testing and validation with historic data the model is applied to the German vehicle market and a potential scenario for the prospective composition of the new passenger car fleet by 2030 is presented. The scenario simulation shows that a significant reduction of CO 2 emissions is feasible especially by the introduction of plug-in hybrids and range extended electric vehicles. However, the growing technical complexity and the additional effort for efficiency improvements also result in increasing total costs of ownership for the customer.

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