Call for carmakers to standardise petrol engines
Petrol hybrids could become uniform and widely shared between brands as carmakers focus on tech to make the difference
European carmakers should consolidate their hybrid engine development and spend the money saved on ways to really make their cars stand out. That’s the view of Matias Giannini, chief executive of Horse Powertrains.
Predicting that more than half of new vehicles made in 2035 worldwide will still have some form of internal combustion engine, Giannini questioned whether manufacturers should stop individually working on their own petrol and hybrid powertrains.
“Does it make sense for OEMs to continue investing individually in things that are becoming standardised? I'd argue it doesn't. If you collaborate, you gain scale, you gain continuous innovation, and you can redirect all that capital into what truly differentiates your product: the user interface, automation, the things consumers actually care about,” he told the FT Future of the Car Summit in London today.
“It's not just a nice idea, it's an organisational and capital allocation question. OEMs have a limited amount of capital. Where do they invest it most productively?,” he continued. “OEMs historically have been used to doing everything themselves. That time is over. If they're going to make money again and bring competitive technology to market, they will have to collaborate.“
Giannini emphasised the need for continued development of petrol hybrid engines and not focussing sole attention on electric cars. “We need to be pushing the EV path, there’s no question about it, but we also need to address the other part,” he continued. If we just leave that to old and inefficient technology we’re not accelerating. We believe it’s a combination of very efficient hybrid systems complimenting the EV path.”
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