PR: BMW Sauber F1 Team - Hybrid Technology

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 BMW Sauber F1 Team - �Technology accelerator� for series development. KERS powers Formula One into a new dimension.

		      07-14-2008 Press Release
		      Munich/Hinwil,
July 14 2008. Hybrid technology in Formula One has been given the
go-ahead and the development process is underway. Powered by a modified
drive concept, the top category of motorsport is poised to enter a new
dimension in 2009 � and deliver significant impetus for the development
of standard production vehicles in the process. From the start of next
season, the Formula One regulations allow for the use of hybrid
technology to increase the output and efficiency of the cars. To this
end, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is working flat out on the development of
its KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) brake energy regeneration
system.

BMW Sauber F1 Team enhances the hybrid expertise of the BMW Group.

As Dr Klaus Draeger, member of the BMW AG Board of Management
responsible for development, reports: �The BMW Group can transfer the
knowledge gained within the BMW Sauber F1 Team directly into the
development of standard production vehicles. This makes Formula One the
ideal pre-development platform for innovative drive technologies. The
new Formula One regulations give us the opportunity to use innovative
hybrid technology under extreme conditions and in so doing to garner
crucial expertise for series development as well. BMW customers stand
to benefit as a result. The KERS unit designed for the BMW Sauber F1.09
is a highly effective variant of brake energy regeneration technology,
and is similar in the way it works to the ActiveHybrid technology
developed for BMW standard production vehicles.� 

BMW Sauber F1 Team develops electric KERS system.

KERS enables the regeneration and storage of braking energy, which
is then put on tap as an extra source of power under acceleration to
complement the output of the V8 engine. The BMW Sauber F1 Team has
decided to focus its efforts on an electric solution. The BMW Sauber
F1.09 will be equipped with a hybrid system consisting of a combination
of electric motor and generator, the requisite power electronics and an
energy storage module. 

The BMW Sauber F1.09 will store enough energy under braking to
provide an additional 60 kW of output over around 6.5 seconds of
acceleration. The complete system will weigh under 40 kg. This means
that the power density of the F1 KERS technology will be considerably
greater than that of the systems currently used in standard production
vehicles. The newly acquired expertise will flow straight into
production car development over the years to come.

�For us KERS is an extremely exciting project and a great
opportunity. We are standing at the threshold between a conventional
package of engine and independent transmission and an integrated drive
system,� explains BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: �The power
density of the KERS components will far exceed that of today�s hybrid
vehicles. KERS will see Formula One take on a pioneering role for
series production technologies going forward. F1 will give a baptism of
fire to innovative concepts whose service life and reliability have not
yet reached the level required for series production vehicles, and
their development will be driven forward at full speed. At BMW we have
always used the Formula One project as a technology laboratory for
series production. With KERS this approach takes on a whole new
dimension. Formula One will re-position itself and undergo a change of
image, allowing the sport to take significant strides forward in terms
of public acceptance.�

The BMW Group already includes a brake energy regeneration system
in a large number of its series-produced models as part of its BMW
EfficientDynamics package. It is also preparing to introduce BMW
ActiveHybrid technology in various model series.