Feature
Interview: BMW Technology Guru Raymond Freymann
U.S. auto shows frequently sound more like Greenpeace conferences than car conventions, as automakers present their latest eco-plans to save the world (while simultaneously launching gas-guzzling V8 pickups and SUVs, of course).
"The goal is to take cars out of the pollution equation altogether," says General Motors chairman (and sometime chief eco-warrior) Rick Wagoner. And the "green" visions you get from DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM and most of the Japanese, are amazingly consensual. Gasoline-electric hybrids, as used on the former European Car of the Year Toyota Prius and the current North American Truck of the Year Ford Escape Hybrid, will grow in popularity and offer gas savings of about 25 percent.
Long-term, the future is hydrogen — and more specifically, hydrogen fuel cells. GM had its latest hydrogen fuel-cell concept car, the Sequel, at this year's North American International Auto Show. The company's chief soothsayer, and vice president for R&D and planning, Larry Burns, reckons the General will be able to build a fuel-cell vehicle, fully competitive with a gasoline internal combustion engine, within 10 years. Plus, the company will be able to build it affordably in high volume. "That's the critical next step," says Burns. "This technology will not benefit society unless it is made in high volume."
So, for the first time in the history of motoring — maybe the history of the world — the future seems pin-sharp.
Well, not according to BMW. As befits the maker of probably the best engines in the world, BMW sees the internal combustion engine as the future, not just the present. And hybrids, about which rivals gush? Diesel has more potential, says the man responsible for crystal ball gazing at the world's leading premium carmaker.
Professor Raymond Freymann is from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the tiny country wedged between Belgium, France and Germany. He is managing director of BMW Group Research and Technology, and has been at BMW for almost 20 years. Before that, he worked in aerospace. A proud Luxembourger — "my ancestors have been living there for 500 years" — he went to Germany to study aeronautical engineering at 18. Now 52, he has written over 80 technical papers and has 25 national or international patents. "My team works on engines likely to be produced in 15 years. We also look at information communication systems in five years — things happen much faster in this area."
Like General Motors' Larry Burns, and R&D chiefs at Ford and DaimlerChrysler, he says the future is hydrogen. "There is no doubt in my mind about this. We are running out of fossil fuels. Hydrogen is the perfect alternative. It is clean burning — so no pollution — and abundant. The world is full of hydrogen."
But where BMW differs from most rivals is in the type of hydrogen power plant. Some rivals acknowledge that hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines are a step on the ladder, but fuel cells are the future. Freymann is not so sure.
"We think the future is not so radical. All of our consideration is on internal combustion engines. We're not sure fuel cells will happen — other than as the power source for everything driven electronically, such as air conditioning, in-car entertainment, lights, etc. For this application, the fuel cell makes perfect sense. But as the power source for driving the car? That is a huge step.
"Rather, we think the internal combustion engine, fuelled by liquid hydrogen is perfect. The technology exists. The internal combustion engine also offers much better power density and efficiency than fuel cells. Fuel cells have such a long way to go. I'm not sure anyone would be able to pay the bills."
BMW will sell a bi-fuel-powered (gasoline and hydrogen) V12 7 Series within two years. A similar engine recently powered the BMW H2R racer (created by California-based Designworks) to nine hydrogen speed records at the Miramas proving ground in France. The records include a standing quarter-mile in 14.9 seconds.
"Within two years, Germany will have a 'hydrogen highway' linking major towns, and Governor Schwarzenegger has announced a similar initiative in California. When there is no liquefied hydrogen for refuelling, you just use normal gasoline. The engine cannot be tuned as efficiently as we would like, but the hydrogen performance is still very good."
So how soon will hydrogen cars become popular?
Impossible to say, says the professor. "It depends how quickly a suitable infrastructure for refuelling can be developed. This is out of BMW's hands, although naturally we put pressure on the relevant authorities." Germany's "hydrogen highway" is being developed partly by industrial gas giant Linde — now run by former BMW engineering chief, and former chairman of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle.
"Hydrogen will work best in direct-injection engines with supercharging," Freymann notes. "The thermal efficiency of a hydrogen internal combustion engine will be more than 50 percent. Gasoline engines currently operate below 40 percent and diesels just above 40 percent. The hydrogen engine will have more power and more torque. And no pollution." Liquid hydrogen tanks will likely be carbon reinforced. Hydrogen is much lighter than gasoline or diesel, although it does need more storage space.
So we could still be enjoying creamy smooth, hugely powerful V12s and V8s in 30-40 years? "With hydrogen power, yes." Plus no guilt about warming the climate or choking the locals.
The hydrogen will come from renewable energies. "Initially, maybe we will make it from natural gas, but eventually all hydrogen will be produced using renewable energy — such as solar power." Hydrogen will typically come from electrolysis (in which hydrogen and oxygen are generated from water). Salt water or fresh water can be used. Freymann says, "There is so much potential renewable energy. Enough solar energy falls on the Earth in 70 minutes to satisfy the world's energy needs for one year."
Freymann is no hybrid fan, either. "By having two engines, you simply add weight to the car, and add money to the car. When you drive on the highway, or out of town, the little petrol engine has to lug an inoperative electric engine and a stack of batteries. This is a waste of energy. Only in downtown driving does the hybrid make any sense. Plus the batteries are so inefficient. In all hybrid cars currently on sale, you can only use about 5 percent of the battery power available; that is all. Ninety-five percent always remains in the battery.
"Diesels have more potential. Diesels are fun to drive, fast, less expensive than hybrids and more efficient. The only impediment to diesels selling well in America is pollution regulations [diesels struggle on NOx and particulates]. Mind you, I think diesels will soon peak in popularity in Europe [already 50 percent of cars sold in Europe are diesel]. Direct-injection petrol engines will soon be a widespread reality, and they offer good efficiency and excellent performance."
BMW is working on a gasoline-electric hybrid, but it's a different sort of hybrid. "Ours is lighter, faster and more efficient," says Professor Freymann. Super capacitors, power boosted by regenerative braking, replace batteries. "[The super capacitors] are lighter and store less power, but unlike batteries we can use all their power — all 100 percent." So they give a quick, high-power, short-term "fix" to a small electric motor (mated to a conventional gasoline engine), used only for standing-start acceleration. "An electric engine has a lot of torque at low revs — that is its main benefit — so it's ideal for fast initial acceleration. At higher revs, once you've begun to accelerate, nothing can beat an internal combustion engine. Our hybrid approach combines the best characteristics of both engines."
The BMW philosophy is that these new cars will not just be green; they'll be fun to drive and practical, too. "There's not much fun in driving a current hybrid. We build performance cars. BMWs must continue to offer driving enjoyment. It is absolutely possible to do that and to be eco-friendly."
Which is just about the best news that an auto enthusiast could get. It also means that future auto shows will continue to sound like ecology conferences — but without the jolting disconnect between today's guzzlers and tomorrow's promises.
"The goal is to take cars out of the pollution equation altogether," says General Motors chairman (and sometime chief eco-warrior) Rick Wagoner. And the "green" visions you get from DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM and most of the Japanese, are amazingly consensual. Gasoline-electric hybrids, as used on the former European Car of the Year Toyota Prius and the current North American Truck of the Year Ford Escape Hybrid, will grow in popularity and offer gas savings of about 25 percent.
Long-term, the future is hydrogen — and more specifically, hydrogen fuel cells. GM had its latest hydrogen fuel-cell concept car, the Sequel, at this year's North American International Auto Show. The company's chief soothsayer, and vice president for R&D and planning, Larry Burns, reckons the General will be able to build a fuel-cell vehicle, fully competitive with a gasoline internal combustion engine, within 10 years. Plus, the company will be able to build it affordably in high volume. "That's the critical next step," says Burns. "This technology will not benefit society unless it is made in high volume."
So, for the first time in the history of motoring — maybe the history of the world — the future seems pin-sharp.
Well, not according to BMW. As befits the maker of probably the best engines in the world, BMW sees the internal combustion engine as the future, not just the present. And hybrids, about which rivals gush? Diesel has more potential, says the man responsible for crystal ball gazing at the world's leading premium carmaker.
Professor Raymond Freymann is from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the tiny country wedged between Belgium, France and Germany. He is managing director of BMW Group Research and Technology, and has been at BMW for almost 20 years. Before that, he worked in aerospace. A proud Luxembourger — "my ancestors have been living there for 500 years" — he went to Germany to study aeronautical engineering at 18. Now 52, he has written over 80 technical papers and has 25 national or international patents. "My team works on engines likely to be produced in 15 years. We also look at information communication systems in five years — things happen much faster in this area."
Like General Motors' Larry Burns, and R&D chiefs at Ford and DaimlerChrysler, he says the future is hydrogen. "There is no doubt in my mind about this. We are running out of fossil fuels. Hydrogen is the perfect alternative. It is clean burning — so no pollution — and abundant. The world is full of hydrogen."
But where BMW differs from most rivals is in the type of hydrogen power plant. Some rivals acknowledge that hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines are a step on the ladder, but fuel cells are the future. Freymann is not so sure.
"We think the future is not so radical. All of our consideration is on internal combustion engines. We're not sure fuel cells will happen — other than as the power source for everything driven electronically, such as air conditioning, in-car entertainment, lights, etc. For this application, the fuel cell makes perfect sense. But as the power source for driving the car? That is a huge step.
"Rather, we think the internal combustion engine, fuelled by liquid hydrogen is perfect. The technology exists. The internal combustion engine also offers much better power density and efficiency than fuel cells. Fuel cells have such a long way to go. I'm not sure anyone would be able to pay the bills."
BMW will sell a bi-fuel-powered (gasoline and hydrogen) V12 7 Series within two years. A similar engine recently powered the BMW H2R racer (created by California-based Designworks) to nine hydrogen speed records at the Miramas proving ground in France. The records include a standing quarter-mile in 14.9 seconds.
"Within two years, Germany will have a 'hydrogen highway' linking major towns, and Governor Schwarzenegger has announced a similar initiative in California. When there is no liquefied hydrogen for refuelling, you just use normal gasoline. The engine cannot be tuned as efficiently as we would like, but the hydrogen performance is still very good."
So how soon will hydrogen cars become popular?
Impossible to say, says the professor. "It depends how quickly a suitable infrastructure for refuelling can be developed. This is out of BMW's hands, although naturally we put pressure on the relevant authorities." Germany's "hydrogen highway" is being developed partly by industrial gas giant Linde — now run by former BMW engineering chief, and former chairman of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle.
"Hydrogen will work best in direct-injection engines with supercharging," Freymann notes. "The thermal efficiency of a hydrogen internal combustion engine will be more than 50 percent. Gasoline engines currently operate below 40 percent and diesels just above 40 percent. The hydrogen engine will have more power and more torque. And no pollution." Liquid hydrogen tanks will likely be carbon reinforced. Hydrogen is much lighter than gasoline or diesel, although it does need more storage space.
So we could still be enjoying creamy smooth, hugely powerful V12s and V8s in 30-40 years? "With hydrogen power, yes." Plus no guilt about warming the climate or choking the locals.
The hydrogen will come from renewable energies. "Initially, maybe we will make it from natural gas, but eventually all hydrogen will be produced using renewable energy — such as solar power." Hydrogen will typically come from electrolysis (in which hydrogen and oxygen are generated from water). Salt water or fresh water can be used. Freymann says, "There is so much potential renewable energy. Enough solar energy falls on the Earth in 70 minutes to satisfy the world's energy needs for one year."
Freymann is no hybrid fan, either. "By having two engines, you simply add weight to the car, and add money to the car. When you drive on the highway, or out of town, the little petrol engine has to lug an inoperative electric engine and a stack of batteries. This is a waste of energy. Only in downtown driving does the hybrid make any sense. Plus the batteries are so inefficient. In all hybrid cars currently on sale, you can only use about 5 percent of the battery power available; that is all. Ninety-five percent always remains in the battery.
"Diesels have more potential. Diesels are fun to drive, fast, less expensive than hybrids and more efficient. The only impediment to diesels selling well in America is pollution regulations [diesels struggle on NOx and particulates]. Mind you, I think diesels will soon peak in popularity in Europe [already 50 percent of cars sold in Europe are diesel]. Direct-injection petrol engines will soon be a widespread reality, and they offer good efficiency and excellent performance."
BMW is working on a gasoline-electric hybrid, but it's a different sort of hybrid. "Ours is lighter, faster and more efficient," says Professor Freymann. Super capacitors, power boosted by regenerative braking, replace batteries. "[The super capacitors] are lighter and store less power, but unlike batteries we can use all their power — all 100 percent." So they give a quick, high-power, short-term "fix" to a small electric motor (mated to a conventional gasoline engine), used only for standing-start acceleration. "An electric engine has a lot of torque at low revs — that is its main benefit — so it's ideal for fast initial acceleration. At higher revs, once you've begun to accelerate, nothing can beat an internal combustion engine. Our hybrid approach combines the best characteristics of both engines."
The BMW philosophy is that these new cars will not just be green; they'll be fun to drive and practical, too. "There's not much fun in driving a current hybrid. We build performance cars. BMWs must continue to offer driving enjoyment. It is absolutely possible to do that and to be eco-friendly."
Which is just about the best news that an auto enthusiast could get. It also means that future auto shows will continue to sound like ecology conferences — but without the jolting disconnect between today's guzzlers and tomorrow's promises.
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