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Driving with Bosch
Constantino • 27.April, 2010 @ 03:21 • Abgelegt unter: Allgemein
I’m sitting, in what they tell me, is a car worth almost 2 million Euros; its value being derived, amongst others reasons, by the handmade transmission, the prototype high voltage battery, the hybrid test strategies as well as the countless man-hours put into converting the stock vehicle. While sitting there, I reflect on the time and money which was not, however, invested into driver and passenger comfort; after all, I’m sitting in a Mini Cooper S, a space in which now 3 people, 3 laptops and one very over-sized navigation system now reside; all, with no room in the trunk, of course. And, after having only sat in my place for about 10 minutes, and after starting to feel my lower back start to tighten, a fear comes over me as I realize this ride is going to be more uncomfortable than sitting in an outdated, Boeing 747, on its transatlantic flight, all while a baby seated next to me screams from the pain caused by the stabilizing cabin pressure.
This car, or rather machine, is truly a mechanical and electrical wonder. After buying it stock from BMW, Bosch replaced the rear axle with an electrically driven one, and filled the entire trunk space with a high voltage battery and power electronics. The inside cockpit was further modified; the glove box now sports a cluster of input/output ports allowing various sorts of connection with the brain of the beast, and every free panel is replaced with numerous switches and glowing LED buttons which served, I can only assume, to deploy wings and allow the vehicle to take flight. Finally, and most notably, the two cup holders, placed just by the stick shift, were craftily replaced with two large, red, formidable buttons which had written on them “Use only in case of emergencies”.
A hybrid vehicle, as everyone should hopefully know by now, uses, to its advantage, an electric motor to power the vehicle from standstill; it then has the diesel fueled engine take over at about 40 kph. It’s a sensation that goes counter intuitive to all you’ve ever known, or learned, within a vehicle. When taking off from a red light, you expect the roar of the engine; instead you hear a sci-fi movie go off in the back of the vehicle as the motor hums along with its eerie space ship noises. The strangeness continues as you suddenly hear the starter actuate, mid drive, and as you hear the diesel engine spring to life while finally seeing the tachometer rise above 0 RPM.
The mission of the day, was to first test if the new transmission software was properly running, and then to test if my project was running correctly; that is, to see if the navigation system could correctly influence the energy management systems within the vehicle to further save more fuel. While first driving to check the new software, we ran into a few little glitches as the car began making strange noises and as the clutch completely decouples itself from the engine rending the car as a giant paper weight. The decoupling problem is easily fixed, at least temporarily, be “rebooting” the vehicle; a process anyone would do if their computer is giving them lip. I begin to wonder if the car is more machine or computer at this point. All in all, no large problems occur and we return for lunch, happy with the day and eager to complete the second mission.
Before we can test my project, we have to drive to a pre-determined piece of road which we selected for its characteristics, useful for the project. In order to get there, it is decided we not take the highway just in case anything were to happen with the transmission, such as it completely locking up and sending us sliding across the Autobahn. Winter was very long in Europe this year, but today offered one of the nicest, sunniest, warmest days of the year so far; and since the A/C was taken out of the car to fit all sorts of other electronics, and since every single piece of equipment in the car acted as a type of radiator pleasantly heating the inside, we had the windows rolled down to let in the fresh air. It’s all very comfy, and I start to daydream as I look outside at the beautiful German country side. This doesn’t last long though as my daydreams are suddenly shaken away as I hear the engine loudly screaming, and, as I look up at the driver display, I see the tachometer maxed at about 8,000 RPM. I see the driver nervously look in the rear view mirror, then quickly down at the large red buttons where she, without hesitation, hits the one nearest to her. I hear, what sounds to me, like a jet engine turning off, as we slowly roll to the side of the road, everyone nervously looking around.
Clearly the updated software was not doing its job as this event would be repeated throughout the day. It was clear that we weren’t going to get through my tests, and that is was best for everyone’s sake, including the vehicle, that we turn around and try to go home. While driving home, the engineer next to me starts checking some numbers; he asks how hot the batteries are allowed to be as the driver answers with a prompt 40C. The engineer hesitates to respond as he informs us that the batteries are currently at about 55C and increasing; by the time we pull of the road, they are well above 67C. It’s clear that we aren’t driving home, and so we park the car in a parking lot on the side of the road, grab a cup of coffee and wait for a new ride to take us back to work.
All in all, a fun day.
