Turin, Italy, 2 November 2020 – PETRONAS Lubricants International (PLI), the global lubricants manufacturing and marketing arm of PETRONAS, recently organised its Electric Vehicle (EV) Fluids Webinar, following the success of the inaugural EV Fluids Symposium at its Global Research and Technology (R&T) Centre here last year.
While the demand of cars have plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the automotive market has seen a steady increase in sales for EVs, battery electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), which only proves that the trend towards electrification of goods and transport is set to gain increasing significance over the years.
Continuing the momentum in further growing the EV industry, PLI once again provided a platform to encourage discussion amongst industry players in championing the growth of e-mobility for a greener and sustainable future. The 90-minute Webinar was attended by 150 participants comprising industry-leading experts, OEM partners, academia, and suppliers from across the world to spark conversation in advancing fluid technology for the future of e-mobility.
“The recent COVID-19 pandemic has altered economies and businesses worldwide and operating under this new environment has been tough. While change can be a challenge, we at PLI believe in our commitment and see these challenges as an opportunity to continue driving new solutions and pushing boundaries. Innovation of our products is driven by one common denominator – sustainability, and this pushes us to continue leveraging on our differentiated Fluid Technology Solutions™ to grow the e-mobility sector for a cleaner and sustainable future,” said PLI Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, Giuseppe D’Arrigo.
One of the participants, Raynard Toh of PERODUA shared that while EV progress is not yet felt in some parts of the world, the EV Fluids Webinar presented industry players with insights for better preparation and planning towards environmentally friendly technology while seeking opportunity that helps future-proof the automotive business.
Moderated by Eric Holthusen, Chief Technology Officer of PLI, together with FEV Consulting GmbH, also shared findings on how tailor-made fluids are vital in providing effective cooling performance for batteries and Electric Drive Units (EDUs). In the absence of industry standards, test rigs and methods were developed with FEV and Imperial College to develop fluids that can be tailored to any customer’s design and application.
On the projection of EV industry for 2021, a participant from Rimac Automobili, Elizabeta Žalac said, “Although automakers accelerate EV launch plans due to strict and very challenging emission legislation targets, COVID-19 certainly causes delays in the development of electrification, shared mobility and autonomous driving and will have an impact in 2021. A drop in vehicle sales is expected before rising again in 2022, when the market will probably reach a tipping point as battery pack performance keeps improving, and more importantly, as the charging infrastructure is built.”
“The future of e-mobility is extremely exciting. EV Fluids Webinar helps us automakers catch up with the state-of-art practices and technology in EV industry, especially in terms of battery pack and inverter cooling which has the vital role in the progress of EV development and thus in advancing e-mobility,” she added.
“We recognise the urgent need to answer the call for climate action and progress towards this goal by leveraging on technology for the advancement of e-mobility. The EV Fluids Webinar has a focus of expanding our partnerships with similar-minded people and answer the challenges faced by the automotive industry. We wish to continue this collaboration with OEM partners, Tier 1 suppliers and members of the academia to create an ecosystem of innovation and knowledge sharing, to progress together towards a more sustainable future,” concluded Giuseppe.
