A passage from a recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled The New World of AutoTech will almost certainly make anyone who reads it stop and think: “For the young, getting a driver’s licence will no longer be the liberating rite of passage, replaced instead by an Uber app tied to a parent’s credit card. In another generation, many young people may see driving a car as akin to pounding out words on a typewriter.”

Translated, this means that the automobile of tomorrow and the next 10 years is going to bear only a distant resemblance to the automobile of even 20 years ago. 

From new terminology to job opportunities

These high-tech changes are going to be accompanied by two important consequences:

• A transformation in the terminology with which such changes are defined and explained.
• The emergence of new job opportunities in the occupational categories those definitions describe.

As part of our commitment to the education and enlightenment of our readers and followers, the FOCAL Initiative is launching a series of terminology briefings to help readers understand the evolving language of the automotive industry.

In addition to the commentary provided in this blog, an excellent source of additional insight into emerging technical developments and expanding job opportunities in the Canadian automotive industry is the FOCAL Data Dashboard.

Two sections in this interactive display are particularly relevant to this discussion:

1. FOCAL Automotive Production Sector Definition.
2. FOCAL Auto Occupational Forecasts.

For related information, please visit this link to our recent Automotive Technology Labour Market Outlook.

Defining five key terms

We begin with the definition and clarification of five key terms – there are many others – that are referred to frequently when people discuss the rapidly evolving industry we’re involved with and leading. We hope you find what follows helpful.

1. Vehicle electrification

Vehicle electrification is a simple term within which is bundled a multitude of electrical systems. At its most elementary level the process of powering a vehicle by electricity includes driving:

• The powertrain.
• All on-board and off-board charging systems including electronic power-assisted steering, electronic traction control, intelligent light systems, smart electromagnetic suspension, all-wheel drive, airbag deployment system, and more.

The mechanical, pneumatic, and hydraulic transfer power systems in a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle are bulky, heavy, and less efficient than in an electric vehicle . As a result, a 100% electric vehicle (EV) will result in high efficiency and zero emissions of pollutants, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint.

It continues to be challenging to completely replace a gasoline powertrain with an electric drive given present battery technology. The main culprit is the limitation of maximum energy that can be stored in the battery pack. This is where hybrids – a vehicle with both a combination of the internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor – come in. Here are a few of them:

• Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). HEVs have a combination of ICE with an electric propulsion system. ICE delivers most of the energy, and the electric powertrain system is used only to improve fuel efficiency.
• Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). PHEVs also have a combination of ICE and electric propulsion systems. A PHEV stores energy from the electric power grid or through regenerative braking. The PHEV runs on electric power until the battery is nearly depleted, and then the car automatically switches over to use the ICE.
• Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). BEVs have larger battery packs to store more energy from the electric power grid for longer range. They have no backup gasoline engine. BEVs are also referred to by some as “pure-electric vehicles” or “all-electric vehicles” (AEVs).
• Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs). FCEVs refuel with hydrogen and use a fuel cell to produce electricity to propel the vehicle. FCEVs are also referred to as fuel-cell vehicles or FCVs.

2. Electrified propulsion technologies

While the electrification of vehicles is a major automotive industry trend, there is no single, simple electrical propulsion system. Automobile manufacturers worldwide are currently exploring a wide range of propulsion technologies, including a mix of ICEs, electrics, and hybrids, until an electric-only solution is perfected.

There is a worldwide race in the automotive industry to find that solution, which involves the hybridization of the battery with the supercapacitor. When that happens successfully (and it seems certain that it will) stand by for take-off. Consider the following observation carried recently in The Economist: 

“When it comes to putting on pace, some electric vehicles rely not only on a battery to deliver the necessary wattage, but also on a second source of power called a supercapacitor. The battery serves as the marathon runner, providing a steady discharge over a long distance. The supercapacitor is a sprinter, unleashing a large amount of energy rapidly.” 

Enabling the battery and supercapacitor to work together successfully could be the technological equivalent of creating a super-athlete – when endurance meets speed – and will likely result in an electrically powered automobile capable of a 1,000 kilometre range based on a 5-8 minute charge time. Intensive research and development is ongoing in all aspects of future vehicles including new battery technologies, new motors and charging.

Until that ultimate breakthrough occurs, current or in development electrified propulsion technologies include:

• 48 Volt Stop/Start Mild Hybrid: Since electric vehicles will continue integrating new electrical components, a 48-volt battery will be needed in the future. Stop/start functionality would mean that upon slowing down, regenerative braking systems could shut off and recharge the battery, then restart it when the vehicle accelerates.
• Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) Power Split: Power split hybrids contain both an internal combustion engine and an electric engine which can be used to power the vehicle. At faster speeds, the ICE is dominant while at slower speeds the electric engine is dominant. As the ICE is used, it recharges the electric engine.
• Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV): Plug-in EVs do not have hybrid capabilities and therefore cannot be recharged through the running of an ICE. As such, batteries must be recharged through connection to the electrical grid.
• Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV): Battery electric vehicles are similar to plug-in electric vehicles, however some have the option of interchanging battery packs for extra range. As opposed to PEVs, battery systems are accessible and can be changed in/out relatively easily.
• Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV): Fuel cells use oxygen from the air and compressed hydrogen from a fuel tank to produce electricity within the vehicle. This electricity can then be used to support driving functions.

3. Connected autonomous vehicles

As characterized by Transport Canada, an automated vehicle:

• Uses a combination of sensors, controllers and onboard computers, along with sophisticated software.
• Allows the vehicle to control at least some driving functions, instead of a human driver (for example, steering, braking and acceleration, and checking and monitoring the driving environment).

Also as characterized by Transport Canada, a connected vehicle – depending on the features it has installed – may be able to communicate with:

• Its occupants, such as through their mobile devices.
• Other vehicles and road users.
• The surrounding transportation infrastructure, such as roadways and traffic lights.
• Internet based applications and other entities.

4. Digital transformation & automation in   manufacturing

Although the expression digital transformation and automation in manufacturing is not confined to the automotive industry, both the term and the activities it describes play a central role in automotive manufacturing development. To quote Automation.com, a subsidiary of the International Society of Automation, the manufacturing industry globally is:

“Continually on the lookout to improve their business, production and operational processes with the objective of maximizing revenues and profits. There are many ways to achieve these objectives, but the most common strategies include improving overall productivity and efficiency, maximizing cost savings, enhancing customer experience, adapting to market dynamics and reducing plant downtime.”

What is true of the manufacturing industry in general is equally true of our own.

Automation.com goes on to explain: “Digital transformation is the process of intentionally bringing about comprehensive changes, after due deliberation, by leveraging emerging digital technologies to achieve overarching objectives, which, in the business context, often includes improving a company’s business, production, and operational processes, enhancing customer and shareholder value, becoming more efficient and productive, and such others. Through such transformation, companies can overcome market challenges, ensure customer satisfaction, improve performance, and become future-ready.”

That, in a nutshell, is what the Canadian automotive industry is in the process of doing.

5. Smart mobility

For an up-to-date definition and general description supporting the term smart mobility we reference the experts at Deloitte Consulting LLP, the global management consulting firm. 

They have produced a 48-page paper entitled Smart mobility: Reducing congestion and fostering faster, greener and cheaper transportation options which sets out the massive implications of this deceptively simple term. Their paper states:

“New business models inspired by the sharing economy and disruptive technologies are ushering in an exciting new age in transportation: the era of smart mobility. The arrival of on-demand ride services like Uber and Lyft, real-time ridesharing services such as Carma and Zimride, carsharing programs such as Zipcar and car2go, bike sharing programs, and thousands of miles of new urban bike lanes are all changing how people get around.

Commuters no longer need to own a car to have one at their disposal. They don’t have to pre-arrange carpools to share a ride with others headed in the same direction. They needn’t wait for a ride home when it’s pouring down rain and there’s not an empty cab in sight. For their part, automakers increasingly see themselves as both product manufacturers and mobility services companies.” 

Conclusion

The Wall Street Journal article quoted earlier sums the situation up like this: “Welcome to the new world of AutoTech – the merging of electric, autonomous vehicles with ride-hailing to create a radically different car economy. Tied together by the connectivity of digital networks, this new business could upend the global automobile industry – and along with it, the entire culture that for more than a century has been built around getting behind the steering wheel.”

As that cultural change continues to flourish, so too will the employment opportunities necessary to sustain it.

Find out more from FOCAL

The Future of Canadian Automotive Labourforce (FOCAL) Initiative is a collaboration of the Canadian Skills Training and Employment Coalition (CSTEC), the Automotive Policy Research Centre and Prism Economics and Analysis. 

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