Expectations are already increasing; Customers are demanding drivetrains which could last up to 500,000km, compared to 200,000km only a decade ago, and this trend will continue.
The Euro7 standard includes durability requirements for light-duty vehicle batteries and emission controls after eight years or 160,000km. An autonomous vehicle in constant use could easily have covered over a million kilometres in that timeframe. The European Union has also proposed requirements for components to be removed and replaced more easily, both for maintenance and re-use at the end of the vehicle’s lifecycle.
This will spell the end for a 30-year trend towards sealed units with single-use fastenings and glue, which has made repair or reuse impractical.
Sean Worrall – Chief Engineer, Product Sustainability, GKN Automotive commented: “By 2050, we will need to consider recycling as a last resort. Instead, durability and design for remanufacture will be critical to truly enable a circular economy. Today’s trucks are designed to last over a million kilometres, but that isn’t the case for traditional cars. Regulations like the Euro 7 legislation and autonomous vehicles will drive the need for more durable products that can be effectively and economically remanufactured.”
Durability will be an important differentiator for shared vehicles, and electric powertrains are well suited to those longer lifecycles. They have fewer mechanical elements than a combustion engine, use single-speed transmissions, and produce less heat – a factor which ages nearby systems.
