NEWS
7 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 19
EVs need paying and
charging conformity
THE ADOPTION OF common
charging and payment
standards for EV charging
points is a vital step towards
the widespread take-up of EVs,
according to one of the biggest
makers of charging points.
Swiss-based technology
firm ABB supplies EV charging
equipment to a number of
networks worldwide, including
Ionity, which recently opened
its first 350kW rapid-charging
site in the UK.
Tarak Mehta , the boss of
ABB’s electrification division,
said working towards common
charging standards is “a role
we t a ke ve r y s e r i o u s l y.”
Mehta said that although he
understands the reasons, the
situation is complicated by car
firms wanting to gain an edge
with their own systems and
infrastructure projects.
“With the nature of politics,
the way the automotive
OEMs [original equipment
manufacturers] feel about
themselves lends itself to not
having too many common
standards,” said Mehta. “The
infrastructure is proportional
to the [number of] standards:
s o o n e st a n d a r d ve r su s t wo
has a substantial impact on the
cost of infrastructure you need
in any one geography.
“On the commercial
vehicle side, we see a far more
collaborative evolution. On the
automotive side, let’s put it this
way: it’s a bit more challenging.
T h e g o o d n ew s i s th a t , s o fa r, i n
any one geography, we’re down
to one or two standards, andthat’s probably good enough.”
Although there has been
a move towards common
charging plugs, EV owners still
face the need to sign up with
several companies in order to
use each firm’s charging points.
“The biggest issue [on the
payment side] is data,” said
Mehta. “Convergence could
happen very quickly if there
was an agreed data-sharing
model, because a lot of data
that comes with EV charging
has value. Getting that data
shared is a bigger issue than
getting credit cards working
[across different accounts] and
having it standardised might
take some regulatory effort.”
Ionity has opened its
first 350kW rapid-
ch a r g i n g s i te i n th e U KAUTOMATICS AND SEMI-AUTO dual-
clutch transmissions may be technically
brilliant but there’s still plenty of space
left in the market for manual gearboxes
- and it’s not only petrolheads who think
so. Volkswagen recently announced its
new MQ281 manual transmission, which
will supersede the MQ250 and replace
the MQ350 in some applications. Manual
gearboxes suit low-cost, entry-level cars
because they are cheaper to make than autos
and consume less energy from the engine.They’re effi cient because they don’t have any
internal hydraulics or other components
like clutches or actuators to consume power
and they weigh less.
T he f u l l n a me of V W ’s ne w ’ b ox i s MQ2 81-
6F, ‘6’ for six-speed and ‘F’ for front-wheel
drive. It has been specifi cally designed
to suit the trend of downsizing engines
for fuel effi ciency and turbocharging
them to replace the power and torque
that disappeared with the lost capacity.
Thanks to the turbocharging, downsized
engines can produce higher torque at lower
revs. They also run slower at the top end
to avoid the greater friction losses at high
revs (down-speeding). Because of that, the
ge a r i n g h a s t o b e t a i lor e d t o s u it t he m.
The MQ281 will equip smaller cars in the
VW family, from the Polo to the Tiguan, as
well as others wearing Audi, Skoda and Seat
badges. So the gearbox can cope with cars
of different sizes and weights and it has a
decent torque capacity of 250lb ft, which
relates not just to engine torque but also the
weight of the vehicle it’s fi tted to and the job
it’s doing. A wide ratio spread of 7.89 gives alow fi rst gear to pull away easily and a high
enough sixth to make top speed at lower revs.
Front-wheel-drive gearboxes generally
pose a design challenge because, unlike
an in-line gearbox driving the rear wheels,
they normally fi t on the end of an engine
mounted east-west across the width of
the engine bay. The MQ281 is particularly
compact so it can be mated to an external
electric motor to create a hybrid drive.
Inside the gearbox , the gubbins is fairly
familiar. There are two shafts mounted
one on top of the other with the centres
HOW ABOUT HYBRID POWER?
just 80mm apart. The
uppermost one is the input
shaft connected to the engine via the clutch
and has gears and synchronisers for ratios
three to six. The lower one is the output
shaft driving the wheels via the fi nal drive.
To help squeeze everything in, the
output shaft also carries the gears and
synchronisers for fi rst and second gears.
To ease gear engagement on the fi rst two
gears, they have multi-cone steel and carbon
synchronisers. Single cones are fi ne for thehigher ratios. The lubrication system has a
few trick details in it, too, scooping up fl uid
and directing it through the hollow shafts
and to the sixth gear, which sits on the end
of the gear cluster and can otherwise suffer
oil starvation during cornering. Effective
lubrication reduces wear and minimises
friction to get maximum effi ciency. VW
reckons the MQ281 can save 5g/km CO 2 ,
depending on the car it’s fi tted to, and that
includes the down-speeding element of the
engine. That’s a decent amount when every
gram counts and it’s not to be sniffed at.
The MQ281 can accommodate a hybrid
electric drive motor fitted adjacent to it
in the engine bay using an optional power
take-off unit fitted to the gearbox casing.
This makes a ‘mild hybrid plus’, with a
beefier electric motor than a typical MHEV,able to deliver more torque and provide
more effective regenerative braking. The
modular design means the ’box can take a
range of gear sets to suit different cars.
NEW MANUAL GEARBOX MEANS
IT’S ALL CHANGE FOR SMALL VWs
The
Volkswagen
Group’s new MQ
gearbox shows how far
manual gearbox technology
has progressed over the
years and how it still has a
big part to play in cutting
fuel consumption and
emissions.
UNDER
THE SKIN
JESSE CROSSE
AUDI TOUGHENS UP A1 WITH CITYCARVER
Audi has revealed an “urban crossover” version of the A
called the Citycarver. The Ford Fiesta Active rival has 2in of
extra ground clearance thanks to larger wheels and suspension
revisions. An Allroad-inspired protective bodykit, new front-
end design with matt black detailing and contrasting interior
trim mark it out from the standard A1. UK order books will
open in September, with deliveries later in the autumn.