11.08.2010 Berlin/Munich. In the coming two years, eleven different partners from the German automotive industry want to joint forces in order to explore innovative technologies and concepts for the reduction of fuel consumption and therefore CO2 emissions. The goal of the project entitled "Energy-efficient Driving 2014" – EFA 2014 –, which originated from the alliance of innovation in automobile electronics, is to reduce fuel consumption by up to ten per cent. The initiative is being promoted by the federal ministry for education and research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung = BMBF) with around nine million euros in the framework of the federal government's high-tech strategy.

The aim is to significantly increase the energy efficiency of automobiles by means of two central approaches. Firstly, the vehicles are to become "intelligent" and thus, for example, develop predictive operating strategies for energy saving on the basis of knowledge of the route to be taken. Data from navigation, radar or camera systems will make it possible to foresee driving situations where there will be an increased need for energy or a surplus of energy and thus initiate a prompt reaction on the part of the vehicle or driver. Secondly, the on-board energy supply system of the vehicles and the components involved are to be tailor-made for the possibilities of intelligent operating strategies. For example, the architecture of the on-board power supply system will be re-engineered for optimum recovery of braking energy.

Information for the press

Marco Bruemmer, BMW Group, project coordinator of EFA 2014: " The innovative orientation of this research project will enable the  exploration of completely new approaches to energy-efficient driving. The project results will also be important for future generations of electric vehicles, whose energy management system will be able to profit significantly  from predictive operating strategies."

With its aimed-for reduction in consumption by up to ten per cent, the project can make a large contribution to achievement of the European goal of a 20 per cent CO2 reduction by the year 2020.

Companies involved in the EFA 2014 project are Audi AG, Audi Electronic Venture
GmbH, BMW AG, Continental Safety Engineering International GmbH, ELMOS
Semiconductor AG, Flextronics Automotive GmbH & Co. KG, FZI Forschungszentrum
Informatik, Harman Automotive Division (Harman Becker Automotive
Systems GmbH), Infineon Technologies AG, metaio GmbH and Robert Bosch
GmbH. The project is being coordinated by the BMW Group.

Further information at:

www.eenova.de/projekte/efa2014.
Contact in Baden-Württemberg
Dr. J. Marius Zöllner
FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik
Director of technically cognitive assistance systems
zoellner@fzi.de
+49 (0)721 9654 202

Thomas Knoll
Robert Bosch GmbH
Corporate Communications
thomas.knoll@de.bosch.com
+49 (0)711 811 7088