Around 1900, electric motors and internal-combustion engines were still equally popular in automobiles.
Particularly in the United States, the smooth electric powertrain was more prevalent in urban traffic, while the internal-combustion engine was the preferred choice in rural areas thanks to its greater range. An electrically powered vehicle was also the first to break the 100 kilometer-per-hour barrier. On April 29, 1899, Camille Jenatzy reached a top speed of 105.882 kilometers per hour in the vehicle named “La Jamais Contente”.
Power electronics installed in a production vehicle, 1967
Power electronics of the “Electromobile” research project installed in a production vehicle, 1967
“Electromobile” research project
A vehicle from the world’s first battery-powered urban bus fleet, 1974
A vehicle from the world’s first battery-powered urban bus fleet in Mönchengladbach, Germany, 1974
At Bosch, the history of automotive electric motors dates back to the 1960s. Even then, the idea was to find an alternative system that would produce lower emissions than the internal-combustion engine. Proposals for high-performance batteries that could store far more energy than the conventional lead batteries of that era formed the main catalyst for the intensive research this field.
For their first project, the engineers replaced the spark-ignition engine and transmission of a standard vehicle with a Bosch electric motor. Thanks to an electronic control, the motor could also be run as a generator, and thus recover braking energy.
In October 1974, seven electric buses were put into passenger service in Mönchengladbach for a large-scale field test. Bosch provided the electric motors, electronic control units, and auxiliary systems. Weighing six metric tons, the battery was transported separately on a special single-axle trailer. It had a range of 80 kilometers and was regularly exchanged every two hours at a special station. Changing the battery was fully automatic, and took just under five minutes.
Hybrid Technology
One year previously, at the 1973 IAA motor show, Bosch had presented a development report on a hybrid-drive passenger car fitted with both an internal-combustion engine and an electric motor. Up to that point, the batteries of most hybrid vehicles had been charged by a generator powered by an internal-combustion engine. The novelty in the Bosch project was the use of the internal-combustion engine to both charge the battery and drive the vehicle, meaning it used far less energy overall.
Despite such groundbreaking research results, these developments still did not get beyond the project stage. Insufficient battery power remained the major hurdle. All the same, the research work continued. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bosch worked together with automakers on numerous studies and prototypes of hybrid and electric powertrains.
An electric sports car conceptualized.
An electric sports car conceptualized for Bosch’s “glass auto” study
Production projects
The first production cars to use Bosch hybrid technology were the VW Touareg and the Porsche Cayenne, launched in 2010. They were also the world’s first parallel full hybrids. These vehicles offer automakers a flexible, modular electrification solution that does not require a special transmission.
They use state-of-the-art control technology to manage the interplay between internal-combustion engine and electric motor. In total, Bosch has already completed more than 50 electrification projects for customers.
Each year, Bosch invests 400 million euros in electromobility. More information you can find here.
Bettina Simon
Picture of Bettina Simon
Since 2006 I have been working in the Historical Communications department at Bosch. At first I was in charge of the text archives, currently I am looking after the product archives and technical documentation. I am dealing with inquiries about technical history, in addition I coordinate exhibition projects in various museums.
On sunny days I enjoy driving my 1970 Fiat 500.
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