Now Siemens isn't really developing the by-wire braking system for hybrids, but for all automobiles. In fact, Siemens has far bigger plans than revolutionary brakes. Siemens is thinking revolutionary drive trains - the drive-by-wire system.
"Siemens
VDO is developing the
technology in response to the
increasingly strict emissions
regulations, rising fuel
prices and the demand for
improved flexibility,"
said Siemens VDO Board of
Director Dr. Klaus Egger.
"We consider the electric
motor to be the actual
long-term drive solution for
fulfilling even the most
stringent emission laws in the
future, as opposed to hybrid
drives, which represent an
interim solution on the road
to future propulsion
technologies." (more)
Now, I don't agree that hybrid
technology is necessarily
"an interim
solution" because
hydrogen fuel cell hybrid
vehicles could be the next
evolution of hybrid vehicles.
Such technology might make far
better sense for some or all
forms of transportation than
fully electric vehicles. More
important, however, I believe
hybrid vehicles can help lay
the foundation for both all
electric vehicles and/or fuel
cell vehicles while ending
foreign oil dependency and
cleaning the environment in
the interim.
Consequently, could
drive-by-wire systems, such as
by-wire braking, help hybrids
in this evolution towards zero
emissions and zero oil
dependency? Or, would by-wire
braking reduce the
effectiveness of regenerative
breaking - an important aspect
of the hybrid powertrain?
According to Siemens, "In
our opinion brake by-wire
systems can easily and ideally
be combined with regenerative
braking on hybrid vehicles.
This is due to the fact that
electrical brake by-wire
systems provide an ideal
interface to split the overall
braking demand by the driver
into two channels,"
Silvia Wolf of Siemens told
me.
"Using brake by-wire
systems makes it possible to
realize a very smooth
transition between the
friction brake and the
regenerative brake so that the
driver does not feel any
negative feedback compared to
the known pedal feedback of
conventional hydraulic braking
systems. Moreover brake
by-wire systems do not need
any additional hardware
components to implement the
brake blending feature which
is different to hydraulic
braking systems for which
additional measures concerning
pedal feedback and safety
backup layers are
required."
"Thus brake by-wire
systems represent the ideal
braking systems to be combined
with regenerative braking and
hybrid vehicles, providing
best effectiveness of
regenerative braking."
