Lower fuel consumption, fewer harmful emissions, and less CO₂ go hand in hand. Even today’s state-of-the-art gasoline and diesel internal­combustion engines offer development potential for considerably reducing fuel consumption. For example, higher injection pressures and turbocharging will help downsize engines in the future and in some cases will reduce the number of cylinders as well. Additional hybridization and further vehicle optimization, such as improvements in aerodynamics or the rolling resistance of tires, make halving fuel consumption a real possibility.

We believe it is a realistic goal to turn a diesel car with a 100 kilowatt engine in the lower middle class into a three-liter car. This would be equivalent to a CO₂ emission level of 80 grams per kilometer. The cost of optimizing diesel technology in this way will pay for itself within three years.

Besides improving the drive technology itself, Bosch is also working on solutions to make driving more economical. These include the concept of system networking, which networks the vehicle navigation system closely with other automotive technology systems. In the long term, predictive driving with navigation support offers further considerable potential for cutting the fuel consumption of internal-combustion engines.