ABSTRACT
The demand for individual mobility is inexorably increasing and the number of automobiles operated worldwide will continue to grow for the next 20-30 years (Guzzella, 2009). Unfortunately, fossil primary energy sources are limited, and particularly in the case of crude oil, the era of its cheap and plentiful supply is coming to an end. Clearly, these two developments can be balanced only by a combination of several changes in our individual mobility system. One central part of it will be the development of substantially more fuel-efficient vehicle propulsion systems.∗
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One very promising approach toward achieving this objective is the development of hybrid-electric powertrains. On the one side, such propulsion systems can improve the rather poor thermal efficiency of standard internal combustion engines. On the other side, they pave the way to a partial electrification of individual mobility by combining short-range purely electric travel with long-range driving capability.
