Mechanical Engineering / Vehicle Technology

From a vehicle technology perspective, defossilization of the transportation sector, connected and automated driving (CAD), digitization along the life cycle, and a circular economy demanded out of climate neutrality play a special role that will have a direct influence on construction methods and vehicle concepts. New vehicle concepts will have to be developed in line with demand and will not only have to be modular in terms of the drive concept. Connected and automated driving will place new demands on the vehicle interior, as it will be used in a completely different way. Comfort, functionality and aesthetics will become more important and require new design concepts. The solutions for current and future vehicle concepts must be implemented with a view to a circular economy, which means, among other things, that the proportion of secondary materials and bio-based materials must increase, but without weight and cost disadvantages. Ultimately, digitization along the life cycle enables targeted feedback of information from the operating phase into product development in order to make the process, including production, more efficient and shorter.