HTAS Jaarplan 2009

High Tech Automotive Systems

Electric Vehicle Technology

June 2009

High Tech Automotive Systems 0

 High Tech Automotive Systems

HTAS Innovation Programme

‘Electric Vehicle Technology’

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 3

I. Motivation and background ......................................................................................... 5
II. Opportunities for electric mobility in the Netherlands ............................................... 6
Challenges with respect to the market, the infrastructure and vehicles. .............................. 7
Certification and Security ..................................................................................................... 8
Strengthening the automotive sector .................................................................................... 8
III. Ambitions of the Dutch Automotive Sector ................................................................ 9
Background .......................................................................................................................... 9
Market considerations for the Netherlands and Europe 2020 ............................................ 10
SWOT analysis ................................................................................................................... 11
IV. Programme theme Electric Vehicle Technology (EVT) ............................................ 13
Reference Car .................................................................................................................... 13
System Integration ............................................................................................................. 14
Programme description ...................................................................................................... 14
Analysis of the business cases .......................................................................................... 16
V. Organisation .................................................................................................................18
Consortium ......................................................................................................................... 18
Governance ........................................................................................................................ 18
VI. Finance & ambitions ................................................................................................... 20
Appendices ........................................................................................................................... 22
References ............................................................................................................................ 29

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Executive Summary

The HTAS Innovation Programme is the result of a joint effort within the Dutch Automotive
Sector. It is an initiative of the Federation Holland Automotive (FHA) in collaboration with the
industrial partners, SMEs, knowledge institutes and government.

In this HTAS programme, new developments have resulted in an initiative to create a

competitive position for the development of electric vehicles, their components and parts.
The study ‘HTAS Visie document hybride en elektrische aandrijvingen’ was completed in
2008, and formed the basis for this next development phase of the HTAS Innovation
Programme,

Triggered by the results of this study and the prospective favourable circumstances, the FHA
started developing a Master plan in early 2009 entitled ‘Naar een snelle en grootschalige
introductie van de elektrische auto in Nederland’. During the preparation of this Master plan,
FHA began collaborating with the (power) electronics industry, the automotive sector, the
national and regional governments, and a number of potential launching customers of
electric vehicles.

The conclusions of both studies are starting points for the R&D programme line ‘Electric
Vehicle Technology’ within the existing HTAS Innovation Programme.

The HTAS Innovation Programme concentrates on two main areas:

‘Driving Guidance’ and ‘Vehicle efficiency’ as prime focus areas for growth and innovation.

• Driving Guidance is the area of automotive ICT. The goal is to improve mobility,
safety and the environment.
• Vehicle efficiency aims to reduce fuel consumption. ‘Vehicle efficiency’ is a broad
technology area with much international activity.

Within the focus area of ‘vehicle efficiency’, two themes are distinguished:

• The theme of ‘Efficient powertrain’ will work on integrated powertrain control,

advanced combustion, after-treatment and high-efficiency transmission concepts.
• The theme of ‘Light constructions’ targets the weight reduction of specific sub-
assemblies through the application of material innovations.

Electric Vehicle Technology will be added as a third theme within the focus area ‘Vehicle
efficiency’.

The business case for electric mobility is not only a matter of technology, but also of good
cooperation and organisation between the economic sectors and the authorities concerned.
A number of non-technical issues are identified that play a large role in the development of
Electric Drive. They are embedded in the FHA Master plan but also in this R&D programme
line of ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’. Particular attention is devoted to ensure good
cooperation with the energy sector and the government on a great number of technical and
non-technical issues.

As also suggested in the original HTAS Innovation Programme, specific attention should be
paid to topics such as Education, Knowledge Transfer and Business Development
(especially for SMEs).

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Furthermore, due to the international character of mobility (e.g.. standards and technologies)
and the industrial sectors involved, there is a need for (mainly European) cross-border
cooperation.

Implementing the theme of ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’ will be a part of the total HTAS
Innovation Programme, and will also be supported by a lean organisation that encourages
cooperation between projects. The programme office will be expanded to accommodate this
theme.

For the Electric Vehicle Technology, HTAS will cooperate closely with the Dutch National
Task Force (E-Team) that coordinates activities in the field of Electric Drive, and that also
stimulates cooperation with the government.

Figure 1 provides an overview of the HTAS Innovation Programme and the relationship
between the various R&D-themes, the theme ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’, and the final
goals that have been set:

Figure 1: Overview of the HTAS Innovation Programme

(‘A’ stands for ‘Automotive’)

The theme ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’ will run over 5 years and is planned to attract an
overall investment of € 87 Million (including investments for knowledge transfer, education
and governance).

The additional turnover by 2020 is estimated at € 3.5 billion, with additional employment
opportunities for high-tech employees of 7,500 positions (FTEs).

The content described by this R&D programme ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’ consolidates
HTAS as an international leading programme on the focused automotive growth area of
electric drive. The results include a high financial yield, with major social relevance. The
whole is more than the sum of its parts.

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I. Motivation and background

Worldwide, the development of and interest in electric cars is growing. The drive towards a
rapid and widespread introduction of electric cars seems to have kicked off definitively. The
benefits of the introduction of electric cars are widely acknowledged.

Over the past three years, the development of electric cars has grown very quickly. In 3
years’ time, a development has been achieved that normally takes 15 years. In fact, the
electric car has largely already been developed and tested. The first vehicles of the new
generation can enter large-scale production within several years. Major car manufacturers
are now developing their strategic plans and determining their choices in terms of testing
markets, suppliers and production facilities.

It is therefore a crucial time for the Dutch automotive industry to launch activities in the field
of electric car manufacture and to deliver the required components. The existing
developments can be seen as a major opportunity for the Netherlands to take a large step
forward in the production of already developed and tested electric cars and their strategic
components. The Dutch government and the Dutch Automotive Industry therefore decided to
organise the knowledge and research sector in this area of the HTAS Innovation
Programme, in order to develop and set up new activities.

The Netherlands already has a vigorous automotive industry. Today, the Dutch automotive
industry consists of over 200 companies, representing a turnover of € 12 billion and more
than 40,000 FTEs. This industry may be small compared to other European countries, but
not so in national terms, where it is among the top 3 sectors of the Dutch manufacturing
industry. It is strong, innovative, eager and ambitious, and it has a strong potential for growth.

The market opportunities for clean and sustainable cars are recognised clearly by the Dutch
automotive industry. Contributing to the further advance of the plug-in full-electric car is a
growing part of its activities.

The automotive sector, represented by the Federation Holland Automotive, has therefore
formulated the following set of goals for ‘electric cars’:

• Stimulate the use and production of full electric cars;

• Play an active role in research and development (also in European consortia);
• Stimulate manufacturers and suppliers of strategic components for electric cars in the
Netherlands;
• Attract large (foreign) suppliers of key technology for electric cars;
• Facilitate the large-scale production of full-electric cars and components in the
Netherlands.

In line with these goals, the FHA has published a Master plan outlining the steps required to
reach these goals, and pointing out the opportunities for the Dutch economy and society.1

1
See the report ‘Naar een snelle en grootschalige introductie van de elektrische auto in Nederland’,
published by the Federation Holland Automotive, Zoetermeer, April 10, 2009.

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II. Opportunities for electric mobility in the Netherlands

There are currently 3 important reasons to launch an offensive in terms of industrial activities
towards producing full-electric cars and to contribute to promoting the use of full-electric cars
in the Netherlands, from the point of view of:

• Innovation, business development and employment;

• Energy and environment;
• Cooperation between government, industry and society.

It will moreover help to accelerate the process of creating a leading international position for
the Netherlands .
One may ask: why in the Netherlands? To which the answer is as follows:

1. The Netherlands has a large knowledge base and production industry for cars,
systems, components and ICT, which are required in and for full-electric cars and the
necessary electric power.
2. The Netherlands is an ideal country for the use of electric cars:
a. It is a country with small distances (people are used to driving short distances
without a break; almost always <100km);
b. On average, driving speed is moderate (40-120 km / h);
c. There is a finely branched underground electricity network.
3. Sustainable Energy is a central theme behind electric cars.
The Netherlands aims to reduce CO2 and fine particle pollution, but more in
particular:
a. The Netherlands is active in developing wind power and solar cells;
b. There is a strong awareness of the need to save energy in government
industry and in the society.

The Netherlands also has much to offer for the manufacture of electric cars, which are still
road vehicles and not commodity goods.

The Netherlands enjoys an excellent position with respect to:

• Manufacturing and assembly options for small and normal production series of cars
(e.g. in the flexible manufacturing plant of Nedcar);
• Development facilities for the body and chassis of electric cars, which need to satisfy
other requirements than traditional cars (PDE Automotive);
• Know-how regarding technology of traction and power electronics (e.g. Philips,
FRIEND);
• There are also various industries active in the field of applied technologies (Epyon,
Evisol, DTI, among others);
• Parties with leading knowledge of battery technology and their production (Philips,
Epyon, Avantium, among others);
• Companies that have a long and successful track record with electric vehicles for
special markets (Spijkstaal, among others);
• Companies that convert already existing cars into electric cars (ECE, AGV);
• Knowledge institutions like TNO, TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, Hogeschool Arnhem and
Nijmegen, who are able to boost the technological development and promote the
market introduction of electric cars;
• Availability of a highly qualified and well-trained workforce;
• A well-organised and progressive automotive sector that is not bound to individual
OEM manufacturers, but has excellent experiences in the field of system integration.

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In summary: the Netherlands offers the following favourable conditions to bring the
production and use of electric cars in Western Europe to a larger scale in just a few steps,:

• Flexible manufacturing automotive plants, very suitable for small series of electric
cars;
• A solid technological environment where - thanks to available knowledge of key
technologies and components - the strategic development and pioneering of electric
cars can be undertaken;
• Protected test environments with knowledge and understanding of issues concerning
the infrastructure for the parking and charging of electric cars, where experiences and
developments can be monitored;
• A great number of ‘launching customers’ in government, industry, and car-lease
organisations;
• Government (national, provincial and municipal) that aims to play a dynamic and
stimulating role in the promotion and introduction of electric cars.

Challenges with respect to the market, the infrastructure and vehicles

However, there are still a number of challenges to overcome before the large-scale
introduction in Western Europe and the Netherlands can take place.

These challenges concern:

• The development and promotion of the market;

• The construction and standardisation of infrastructure;
• The key components and necessary improvements of electric vehicles;
• Assuring the availability of high-quality lithium-based cells for the production of
batteries for electric vehicles.

The market requires considerable attention and effort over the coming years. Challenges to
be met in this area include: the price of electric cars compared to alternatives; the contracting
of launching customers; the supply and acceptance of electric cars; establishing tax rebates
for clean cars; admission / safety and maintenance protocols for electric cars, etc.

With regard to the infrastructure, this includes challenges such as an efficient energy supply
and storage (smart grid), the financing and payment of electric batteries (depending on the
possible business cases), sufficient charging points at home, at work and at public places,
issues of standardisation, safety and certification, etc.

In terms of vehicles, we can briefly highlight the following challenges:

• The safety, certification, testing and homologation of electric vehicles;

• Drive properties, comfort and increasing the range of electric vehicles;
• The battery management and software to enhance the car’s energy efficiency
• The manufacturing capacity for vehicles and components;
• The standardisation of vehicles, components, batteries, connections, etc.

These topics and the correlation between vehicle, infrastructure and market are detailed
further in “Naar een snelle en grootschalige introductie van elektrische auto’s in Nederland”.

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Certification and Security

The safety of the vehicle, the user, the battery and the electric charging need to be regulated
properly. Electric cars differ from traditional cars, and assuring the necessary safety
measures requires special attention by the automotive industry, the energy suppliers and the
public authorities.

Electric cars involve a number of security issues that can have a great impact on the driver,
the passengers and the other traffic, such as:

• The weight and place of the battery pack in case of collision

• The electricity and associated fire hazard
• The effects of the battery pack’s high voltage in situations of collisions, if a car hits the
water, etc.

The industry, the knowledge institutes and the government therefore need to work on:

• Monitoring the safety and use of electric cars (starting in the laboratory);
• Developing safety protocols for electric cars, components and batteries through
international cooperation;
• Regulating and promoting standardisation in this area;
• Preparing type-approval procedures for electric cars;
• Developing effective service schemes for vehicle maintenance and periodic
inspections;
• The timely adaptation of legislation in this area.

Strengthening the automotive sector

In the Netherlands, several investments have already been made in the field of components
for electric drive (battery materials, battery management systems, inverters, motors, etc.).
Many - mostly small - enterprises have started in this new and rapidly evolving market,
denoted as 'Electric Mobility’. Their scale is one of the ‘bottle-necks’, however. It is therefore
necessary to help these companies scale up, to gain a leading role in the European markets.
HTAS, as national innovation programme for the automotive sector, can help achieve this by
building a strong national innovation consortium and aligning international contacts.

The Netherlands is also a good alternative for the assembly-line production of electric
vehicles. The Netherlands has excellent production and assembly facilities for vehicles,
suitable for the manufacture of smaller series of cars (30,000 to 40,000 cars per year).

Finally, the Netherlands is home to various knowledge institutes like TNO, TU Delft, TU
Eindhoven, Hogeschool Rotterdam and Hogeschool Arnhem and Nijmegen that are already
contributing to the technological development and to promoting the market introduction of
electric cars.

Government help and support in the above-named developments and the production of
electric cars is essential, especially with respect to business opportunities:

• to launch battery development and production;

• to encourage the technical development of components and sub-assemblies
(including range extenders);
• to bundle technology and knowledge in a pool for electric mobility;
• to encourage innovation, such as an efficient billing system for electricity
consumption.

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III. Ambitions of the Dutch Automotive Sector

Background
The renewed interest in electric cars appears to be of a permanent nature. Whereas the
focus of the vehicle was formerly on its technical operation, today the electric car is seen
much more in the context of ‘electric drive’ or ‘electric mobility’. Issues such as electric
driving, state-of-the-art battery and charger technology and the production of renewable
energy are closely related.

Dutch politics and government have a positive attitude towards electric drive and the need for
its introduction. Not surprisingly: the small area of our country with its high population density
is affected by substantial mobility problems. In combination with the growing sustainability
concern, this fuels a growing demand for vehicles that are more economical, cleaner and
quieter. Electric vehicles meet all three requirements and are even cheaper to use.

The transition to a large-scale introduction of a pure electric vehicle is a gradual process,

from the automotive perspective. Due to the limited energy density of the current state-of-the-
art batteries, at present only short trips (in the range of 100 to 200 km) can be made. For
more than 90% of the daily mobility trips, this is sufficient. All further developments such as
fast charging, smart grids, battery swap, etc., necessary for electric drive to evolve as a new
mobility form, may gradually scale up from there. If the demand for and supply of electric
energy can lead to new dynamics in this way, the market for renewable electrical energy
from wind, water and sun can be boosted further. Most OEMs share this overall vision for the
automotive roadmap.

Many experts see the full electric vehicle in combination with a ‘range extender’ for longer
distances as the ultimate means of transportation in the future. The electric cars available
today are certainly not a final solution. The cars will undoubtedly develop in many forms and
in competition with each other (electric, hybrid and combustion engine).

The latest plug-in electric vehicles explicitly require an increase in investment in the
(electricity) infrastructure. The development of new automotive technical knowledge, the
pooling of IT (software engineering), power electronics, powertrain technology and battery
technology are essential.

Also, these types of vehicles, which are substantially different in design and construction
from the traditional car, offer opportunities for many new and often niche-players on the
market. The same market will also determine which customers may potentially purchase
these new products. Meanwhile, many players are busily engaged with the latest
technologies and still need to start up the manufacture of massive volumes of electric
vehicles. China has a huge production capacity for battery technology for consumer
electronics and has a lively market for electric bicycles and scooters. This will prove to be
their technological and cost-technical advantage over the traditional automobile industry in
the west. In short, over the coming decades there will be plenty of space for new propulsion
technologies and user trends.

Full electric vehicles have significantly fewer components than the current car. For example,
the Quicc by Duracar has 600 components, while a normal vehicle has between 1700 and
2200 components. One of the electric vehicle’s components, the battery, is very expensive.
As technology develops and economies of scale encourage cost savings on this component,
this disadvantage will be mitigated. So far, pure electric vehicles are often functionally usable
vehicles, but not yet a trademark or fashion article like petrol or diesel-powered cars.

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Market considerations for the Netherlands and Europe 2020

To obtain a view of the market opportunities for the Netherlands and Europe in the near
future (2020), we need some figures and assumptions.

Analysing the actual situation on the market and the market trends, we can estimate the
number of electric vehicles in the future and arrive at an educated guess of ‘what’s in it’ for
the Dutch and European economies, and set targets accordingly.
Expectations are that by 2020, the market share of electric cars will be between 2% and 5%.
We shall now consider the situation for the Netherlands and for Europe.

Netherlands
There are now approximately 8 million cars in the Netherlands. Electric drive will increase
over the coming years. With a view to the guiding role that the Netherlands could fulfil in
Europe, we assume a growth rate of 5%. This means that – assuming a successful
introduction – it would be feasible to have about 400,000 vehicles (max.) in the Netherlands
by 2020.
This number will mainly be achieved by electric car sales between 2015 and 2020
(depending on availability and the price of cars). This means that, on average, about 80,000
registrations for electric cars per year can be expected, growing to approximately 100,000
records of electric cars in the Netherlands by 2020 (i.e., 20% of the total number of
registrations!).

The price for an electric car is currently very high (between € 60,000 and € 100,000).
If production numbers rise and the availability of materials and components increases, then a
significant reduction of the production costs (especially for batteries) is expected to result in a
price of around € 30,000 for an average electric car, including the battery pack, by 2020.

The combination of volume and price results in a situation where, by 2020, the market for
electric cars in the Netherlands is 100,000 x € 30,000 = € 3 billion per year.

Europe
A similar calculation can be performed for Europe:
In Europe, around 250 million cars are currently registered. Assuming a modest share of 2%
means 5 million electric cars in Europe by 2020. In terms of volume this means more than
one million records per year, by 2020. This is equivalent, financially, to a market of € 30
billion per year.

Targets
Given the potential both technically and also in terms of market share, we may well expect
the Netherlands to gain up to 10% of this emerging market - especially for components and
(sub) systems.
This means that, by 2020, the European market may represent up to € 3 billion turnover per
year for the Dutch industry. The turnover generated by the domestic Dutch market is
estimated at about 25% of the total market, i.e., € 750 million. Finally, we assume a market
outside Europe of € 1 billion. Thus, based on the considerations above, in our view it seems
realistic for the Dutch programme line for Electric Vehicle Technology to assume an annual
turnover of up to € 5 billion from 2020. With a success rate of 70%, the extra turnover is € 3.5
billion. In terms of employment opportunity, we can translate this turnover into 7500 FTE
positions for high-tech employees (contributing € 125,000 turnover per year), assuming that
1/3 of the created jobs will be inside the Netherlands.

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SWOT analysis
Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the Dutch automotive industry within the context
of the opportunities and threats that are associated with the introduction of electric cars, we
can take the measures necessary to achieve our goals. One of these measures is to build an
effective innovation programme for electric cars.

The diagram below indicates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in several
keywords. Each aspect is explained further in short statements:

SWOT analysis for Electric Vehicle Technology in the Netherlands

Strengths

• Key technology needed to attain a leading market position is available in several

critical areas (battery, power electronics, traction and vehicle design);
• A lot of experience is available in the field of electric vehicles for B2B-markets in
logistics centres, seaports and airports;
• Due to the absence of major OEMs, there is much room for start-up ventures,
possibly resulting in new brands of electric vehicles;
• The Netherlands is a small country, e-drive can quickly be implemented at a national
level;
• The automotive sector is well organised (FHA, HTAS etc.).

Weaknesses

• Knowledge is scattered across industry, universities, knowledge institutions;

• Many small budgets for electric drive, with currently little coordination between
initiatives;
• Master plan, financial support from government and implementation strategy ‘Driving
Electric Delta Works’ is not finished yet.

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Opportunities

• A strong home market for electric vehicles can boost production of vehicles, sub-
assemblies and components;
• Social / politics: Dutch government invests in and encourages pilot programmes in
electric driving. If the government, acting as customer, remains critically and
substantially involved, this may lead to a successful electric vehicle market. Aging of
the population can diminish the total market for cars yet increase opportunities for the
electric car, also because of the convenience of home charging;
• Environment: alternative energy sources such as wind power can be expanded and
linked to electric drive;
• Employment: increase in electric drive and the ancillary developments in very
different industries (vehicles, batteries, electricity, energy producers, ICT, service
providers, filling stations) has a favourable effect on employment.

Threats

• Given good cooperation between electric drive projects, the Netherlands can create a
significant critical mass in the market for electric vehicles. But if individual projects
with lower budgets remain locked in competition, they may turn out to be temporary.
In that case it will not be possible to realise quick growth in the different areas
(vehicles, e-net services, market);
• If the Netherlands does not act quickly enough with well-coordinated field tests and
pilot projects, it will not obtain the knowledge and experience required to fulfil a
guiding role within Europe;
• If the Dutch automotive industry does not respond quickly enough, electric vehicles
and more of the parts and components will be imported from abroad. We will thus
lose the opportunity to create additional jobs and to build knowledge;
• Many Dutch electric utility companies will come into the hands of private foreign
investors, for who the issue of electric drive in the Netherlands may not be a priority
(e.g. RWE and Vattenfall).

Conclusions
The Netherlands has sufficient knowledge and capabilities to initiate the production of new
electric vehicles with the existing and new supply industry. Coordination between the
industry, research and educational institutes will be performed by HTAS.

The large variety of small and medium-size businesses affords the Netherlands a good
position to focus on developing and manufacturing components and (sub) assemblies. It also
offers opportunities to build complete vehicles in flexible manufacturing plants.

The Electric Vehicle Technology programme is devoted to countering the weaknesses and
threats and makes maximal use of the strengths and opportunities to achieve such a position
that international companies will also want to focus their demand for electrical vehicle
production, components and parts on the Netherlands.

In short, ‘electric drive’ may provide an excellent opportunity for Dutch industry. It can give an
important impetus to new mobility and to more production of ‘zero emission’ electricity.

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IV. Programme theme Electric Vehicle Technology (EVT)

Reference Car
As a result of the SWOT analysis, the programme line Electric Vehicle Technology (EVT) will
mainly focus on components and (sub) assemblies.
It is obvious, however, that the individual projects need to be synchronized with each other.

Therefore, the central theme and guideline in the EVT R&D-programme will be the design of
a complete Reference Vehicle as a framework for all the research projects and activities. The
binding goal is a newly designed and fully integrated electric vehicle as a demonstrator, to
demonstrate the architecture of the vehicle and the interrelation and interconnection between
all the incorporated innovations.

To develop a solid design and assure the proper functioning of components for the electric
vehicle, every research project has to fulfil the constraints of:

• System Integration;
• Standardisation;
• Modularity;
• Flexibility;
• Scalability;
• Compatibility;
• Interoperability;
• Consistency;
• Eco-friendly use of materials;
• Recycling and reuse of components and materials (esp. batteries).

The starting point and structure for each research project is a common electric reference car.
This reference car or demonstrator ensures the synchronisation between the different
projects. The reference car will thus serve to safeguard the interconnection and interrelation
between the several research projects (see figure 1).

Figure 1: The Reference Car as Guideline within the HTAS-EVT programme

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System Integration
An important condition for the success of the EVT research programme is to create a well-
considered future-proof architecture, which provides guidance for car and component
manufacturers throughout the complete lifecycle of the car, i.e. from the design stage until
the final recycling process. Good thinking makes good products. Therefore, there is a need
for a seamless integration of the different elements and components in the electric car.

Now is the opportunity to create, from scratch, a well thought-out common concept for a full
electric car, and to develop and build components that fit within this common overall concept.

The architecture has to be based on the principles of modularity. This opens new possibilities
for knowledge institutes and the industry to pursue technological improvements in their
products over the course of time. These improvements need to have a short time-to-market
so that they can be implemented in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

In this way, development and production costs for the automotive industry and manufacturers
of key components will be lower, which means lower operating costs for the consumer.

Programme description
Based on the many interviews that were made for the study ‘HTAS Visie document Hybride
en electrische aandrijvingen’, HTAS has selected 5 key areas for the Dutch research
programme on Electric Vehicle Technology.
These key areas are:

1. Chassis and Body;

2. Powertrain;
3. Control;
4. Auxiliary equipment;
5. Other (Design, development and engineering, interface with the e-infrastructure).

Within these 5 key areas, a number of relevant research projects for the further
improvement of electric cars have been defined. This was done through a fruitful
cooperative effort involving the automotive industry (united in the Federation Holland
Automotive), the knowledge institutes (TNO, TU-Delft, TU-Eindhoven, Hogeschool
Arnhem-Nijmegen, Hogeschool Rotterdam) and the Dutch government (represented
by the Ministry of Economic Affairs).

The following table provides an outline of the R&D programme for each of the 5 key areas.
The detailed aims (that is, the content and deliverables) of each project and the
organisations that are involved are provided in Appendix 1 of this report. For each project
there is an estimation of the costs, the planning, and the expected turnover once the project
has been successfully completed.:

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Overview R&D Programme Electric Vehicle Technology

European Coordination
The European Commission recently announced the ‘European Green Cars Initiative’. The
aims of this initiative are ‘to support innovation in manufacturing, construction and in the
automobile sector, which have recently seen demand plummet as a result of the crisis and
which face significant challenges in the transition to the green economy…’

Three Directorates General of the European Commission (INFSO, RTD and TREN) wish to
focus on road electrification in a coordinated manner. The five key areas for European
research are:

1. Energy storage systems;

2. Drive trains;
3. Vehicle integration;
4. Infrastructure integration;
5. Electric Car, integrated with the transport system.

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Other calls concerning battery technology and a large European Field test will also be
launched this year. From 2010, the European Commission will concentrate on the personal
and social acceptance of electric driving. The calls will include a link to the average
consumer to prevent the looming ‘fall into the chasm’ (that is, if the mainstream market is not
propelled into motion). Explicit attention will be paid to the vision of how it can be
implemented in consumer environments.

HTAS will consult the Dutch government and the EC to determine how cooperation in the
European context can be addressed.

Analysis of the business cases

Economic growth
The content of the programme is based on the strengths of the Dutch automotive industry in
combination with the worldwide automotive development towards lower and zero emission
vehicles, especially the full electric car. The main objectives of the programme are based on
the above-mentioned assumptions and should lead to an increase in turnover of the sector,
especially through the activities for parts, cars and complete electric cars, up to about € 3.5
billion and an additional employment of 7,500 FTEs. The EVT programme shows very
promising international business opportunities that will allow this ambition to be met. The
programme will boost economic activities beyond the automotive sector as well. There will be
a spin-off towards other sectors like the electricity sector, as an additional effect.

Social benefits & sustainability

The challenge facing modern society is to achieve economic growth in a sustainable way.
This is particularly relevant for the transport industry. Main trends in the industry, and
therefore also the focus areas of the electric vehicles, are three factors of sustainable growth:
Safety, Environment and Mobility.

Dutch automotive industry

In addition to important economic growth, there are other benefits for the Dutch automotive
industry. New developments will require stronger cohesion between companies for the
electric car. A totally new product is needed, for which partners need to cooperate to pursue
joint results, which cannot be achieved alone. Companies will become part of strong
international networks. SMEs will get involved and work together with larger companies and
knowledge institutes. The electric car requires other and new components, which new
companies are already developing. They have started working together with the already
existing industry. Also in this way, a stronger international image of the Netherlands as an
industrial high-tech nation in the field of electric drive will enhance the marketing power of
Dutch industry abroad and attract new industries to the Netherlands.

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Education
New automotive professional education programmes specialised in electric vehicle
technologies are needed. They will boost the professional quality of the industry, both
automotive and other. Skills and competencies needed for electric drive and electric cars can
also benefit other sectors. Lively and attractive education programmes are an important
instrument in attracting more students to Technical Universities, Hogescholen and Technical
Colleges at all levels. The currently running HTAS enabling programme needs to be adapted
to these new developments.

Government
The Electric Vehicle Technology programme is an open invitation to government to work
together with the industry and knowledge institutes to realise mutual goals on safety,
mobility, environment and sustainable economic growth. During the preparation of this
programme, the Federation Holland Automotive launched a Master plan entitled ‘Naar een
snelle en grootschalige introductie van de elektrische auto in Nederland’. At the same time,
the Ministries of Transport, Economic Affairs, Environment and Finance are jointly working
on a national plan too. The two development plans appear to mesh well with each other. This
justifies the expectation that the ambitions of the Dutch automotive sector strongly cohere
with the plans of the Dutch national government.

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V. Organisation
Consortium
The Electric Vehicle Technology programme theme will become part of the total HTAS
Innovation Programme, with the three different – both national and international – groups of
partners:

• Industrial partners;
• Knowledge institute partners;
• Government.

For the Electric Vehicle Technology, industrial partners are not only found in the automotive
sector but also in the electrical and electro-technical sector, which will play a major role in
developing this technology (for instance the battery and charging technology, power
electronics, etc.). The same applies to the knowledge institutes. Also their know-how in terms
of electricity use and its influence on electric cars will form part of the programme theme.

The Dutch government will be involved in the execution of this programme, not only as a
funding partner but also in the expression of the national ambition for a sustainable transport
system. A National Task Force will be responsible for the overall coordination of activities
surrounding the introduction of electric cars in the Netherlands.

In the regional field tests to be organised for electric vehicles in the coming years, support is
required from the technical side, which includes universities, knowledge institutes, and the
automotive industry. National and local governments, electricity companies, e-car suppliers,
launching customers etc. will be involved in these field tests of the electric car. In addition,
there are roles for government institutions where legal and safety issues are concerned.

Furthermore, it is evident that the success of HTAS depends on international collaboration.

As pointed out above, the European Commission has started the ‘Green Cars Initiative’.
Where possible, efforts should focus on collaborating with European initiatives and on the
organisational participation in consortia, which will work on various initiatives to be taken by
the EC in this area. Different calls are foreseen for the coming years.

European OEMs and Tiers often form consortia to advance R&D on special subjects. Many
HTAS partners participate in such international consortia. These contacts are very important
and sometimes even preferable to 1-to-1 contacts with OEMs to avoid competition effects
and restrictions in market development.

Governance
The EVT programme will be part of the HTAS Innovation Programme and should be a lean
and pragmatic organisation, suited to executing the programme to achieve the planned
results. The tasks for the governance of HTAS are:

• To achieve the individual programme objectives (according to the Innovation

Programme);
• To set up an annual business plan in line with the achieved results and market
developments;
• The financial control of the programmes and reporting of the programme progress (to
the programme committee and SenterNovem);
• The development and facilitation of new programmes in line with the targets of the
Innovation Programme;
• To coordinate communication between all parties involved.

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For the governance and organisation of the work, as for other parts of the HTAS Innovation
Programme, 5% of the budget is reserved.

The governance model will consist of the same organisation as the HTAS Innovation
Programme with one remark: the EVT programme has a direct connection with the National
Task Force for the introduction of Electric Drive in the Netherlands. This ensures that other
sectors like the electricity sector are closely involved with the activities conducted within the
programme.

This means that, within the HTAS Innovation Programme, the R&D programme ‘Efficient
Vehicle’ will have a third theme, namely ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’. This theme can be
influenced by the National Task Force and of course can feed the National Task Force with
the results of the projects in return.

Governance of the HTAS Innovation Programme

and the relation with the National Task Force

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VI. Finance & ambitions

Based on the content described in the previous chapters, the partners (and potential
partners) in HTAS have worked on estimations for the required investments and the potential
turnover created by the EVT programme. The following table provides an overview of the
results. The figures are based on estimations per sub-project, as detailed in the appendices.

The R&D programme line will focus on innovations of key components and (sub) assemblies,
creating turnover and employability. However, the HTAS Innovation Programme also
foresees (for this additional EVT programme line) the need to support the R&D Programme
with an Enabling Programme for the areas of Education, Knowledge Transfer and Business
Development. Thanks to the current HTAS Enablers sub-programme, only a limited increase
of investments is assumed:

• The Education programme, aligned with electric vehicle technology, needs to run for
about two additional years. Knowledge transfer has to be set up (achieved through
workshops, symposia and an improved information exchange between knowledge
institutes and industrial partners, especially SMEs), and business development is
required to match the new ideas on (E) mobility with new possible business models.
• The governance of the HTAS EVT Programme Line is estimated to cost a maximum
of about € 2 million over a 5-year period.
• Furthermore, but outside the financial scope of this HTAS EVT Programme Line, a
number of operational field tests have to be set up on a national but also international
scale. This will be done in close cooperation with the national Task Force for Electric
Mobility (see FHA report).
• The Electric Vehicle Technology Programme Line as presented in this report requires
a total investment of € 87 million and is estimated to generate a total turnover of €
4,700 million/year. The programme will target a success rate of 70%, equaling €
3,500 million additional turnover.
• Finally, assuming that part of the turnover will be realised in the Netherlands by high-
tech positions, the programme line will also target a growth in employment
opportunity of about 7,500 FTEs by 2020.

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This new HTAS programme line for Electric Vehicle Technology is fully compatible with the
focus of the HTAS Innovation Programme on Efficient Vehicle Technology. This programme
line is moreover consistent with government goals and is presumably part of the national
programme for E-mobility, as proposed by the recent report of the Federation Holland
Automotive.

Investing in Electric Vehicle Technology is an opportunity for industry, knowledge partners

and government to work together on societal and economic goals. If this public-private
partnership performs well, the Netherlands has a realistic chance of becoming a guiding
country in Europe with respect to E-mobility.

HTAS is ready for Electric Vehicle Technology.

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Appendices

A more detailed structure of the HTAS programme line ‘Electric Vehicle Technology’ is
offered below. The individual projects are grouped according to the 5 key areas:

1. Chassis and Body;

2. Powertrain;
3. Control;
4. Auxiliary equipment;
5. Other (Design, development and engineering, interface with the e-infrastructure).

An overview of the organisations involved in this HTAS programme line is also provided.

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1. Chassis & body

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2. Powertrain

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3. Control

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4. Auxiliary Equipment

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5. Other

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Organisations involved in Electric Vehicle Technology

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References

September 2007
HTAS HTAS Innovation Programme

Naar een snelle en grootschalige Introductie van elektrische

FHA April 2009
auto’s in Nederland

HTAS HTAS Visie document Hybride en elektrische aandrijvingen January 2009

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 HTAS Jaarplan 2009

High Tech Automotive Systems

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P.O. Box 1015
5700 MC Helmond

T +31 492 562500

F +31 492 562501
info@htas.nl
www.htas.nl

High Tech Automotive Systems 1