Cross-Cutting Approach to Integrate Functional and Material Design in a System Architectural Design – Example of an Electric Powertrain

The automotive industry is currently undergoing tremendous changes. Vehicles get connected and autonomous, the powertrain gets electrified. Intelligent service architectures for future e-mobility services are created. The production is more and more automated, decentralized and controlled by robots. The CO₂ emissions have to be reduced as a contribution to stop the global warming. To meet the requirements of an electric car in the future, it is essential to combine different approaches with each other. In this integrated system the consideration of system, software and material improvements is required. Up to now, there are software functions which are part of system functions which in turn are connected to the vehicle level functions. For the future, the connection of material functions of a vehicle with system and software functions seems to be a promising approach to develop a tailor-made electric car to meet the upcoming requirements. This paper uses the example of a car with an electronic powertrain to explain how material design (tire design, weight of materials, etc.), software, and electronic design need to be combined to come up with optimised functions on vehicle level (e.g. achieving longer distance drive with electric vehicles combined with reduced CO₂ emissions).