Read on to learn more about what Joe sees as the challenges and opportunities facing engineers in this industry ahead of his presentation at High Performance Powertrains 2022, titled "Creating the ultimate powertrain: crafting tools for true full system optimisation".
Please can you briefly explain your role and involvement with powertrain technologies.
Joe Jones (JJ): As we all know, the automotive industry – and mobility more widely – is going through its biggest transformation seen in the last one hundred years. Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) was created to help customers move at pace in the field of electrification, and advance technologies through high performance applications that will ultimately trickle down into the mass market, supporting the advent of electric vehicles. We are now starting to see this trickle down happening, with tools and technologies deployed in Formula E now being used to engineer future road vehicles.
Working within the Commercial team at WAE, my job is to identify technologies, products and approaches from the world of high performance, and understand how we can transfer these into high-volume applications. This primarily focuses around battery and e-propulsion systems.
What are the most exciting developments in your field at the moment, either within your organisation or in the industry in general?
JJ: I would argue that some of the most exciting advancements in electric powertrains actually revolve around software, advanced control and algorithms. While its true better cells, power electronics and motor materials bring significant scope for improvement of EVs in future, people often overlook the potential of software-based tools to extract more performance from these systems, maximise reliability, and also engineer more optimised systems at day one.
This aligns with much of the work we’re doing at WAE. Whether that be developing our Battery Intelligence algorithms, making them lightweight and easy to implement in low cost BMS hardware, whilst significantly extending life, increasing performance, and reducing fast charge time. This is the same core IP we’ve deployed in the world of Formula E or in world-beating hypercars, and we’re now making it available for the masses. Or for electric drives, our methodology deployed in the world of Formula E for choosing the optimum powertrain concept, is now being used to define the next generation of road powertrain for a major OEM. All of this can have big impact and is relatively low cost to implement.
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing the high performance industry in the next five years and how do you plan to overcome it?
JJ: I’d say the biggest challenge facing the high-performance end of electric powertrains is enabling transfer of technology into the mass market. Electric powertrains in the high performance space have become incredibly efficient, lightweight, and compact – where industry has got to over the last ten years really is quite phenomenal. But with this drives a potential disconnect between what we put on a racing car and what we put on tomorrow’s road cars.
While challenging to automate into our optimisation problem, incorporating cost into the equation will inevitably drive different solutions to those we see in racing. This is the key challenge – we need to make sure we extract the learnings from the racetrack and show that to consumers, whilst developing products that are compelling for the mass market.
What would you say is the technology to watch in the industry at the moment?
JJ: In the high-performance space, 3D printed windings are interesting – in terms of transposition, fill factor, and form, they have the potential of combining some of the benefits of Litz wire and hairpin technologies. However, there’s still some way to go and it will be interesting to see how the technology is adopted.
Why do you feel it is important for all engineers and professionals involved in these technologies to join the seminar?
JJ: As always, if you’re in the high performance space, it makes sense to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s latest and greatest. You never know what new ideas might come to you when you hear from other minds in industry.
This year's High Performance Powertrains seminar on 10 May will take place at the Silverstone Wing, featuring the latest developments in technologies for both high performance vehicles and motorsport. A wide range of powertrain systems including internal combustion engines with sustainable fuels, hydrogen, electric and fuel cell applications, with input from Williams Advanced Engineering, Cosworth, MAHLE Powertrain Limited, Viritech, M-Sport, McLaren Automotive, Briggs Automotive Company, CORYTON and McLaren Applied.