Economical, quiet, environmentally friendly, safe and comfortable – this is how automotive travel should be in the future. Fraunhofer scientists are researching ways to make this a reality, for instance by looking into sustainable drive concepts and intelligent lightweight technologies as a way to decrease fuel consumption. Finding ways to improve resource and energy efficiency also plays an important role in new vehicle production technologies.
Video: Diamond-like coatings save fuel
Coating engine components with hard carbon reduces friction to almost zero – a development that could save billions of liters of fuel worldwide every year. Now researchers have developed a new laser method to apply the coating on the production line.