NEW DELHI: Precision bearing and automotive systems supplier Schaeffler and project partner Continental, in close collaboration with Ford, unveiled the second-generation Gasoline Technology Car (GTC II), a 48-volt mild hybrid car that made its world debut at the 37th Vienna Motor Symposium in April 2016. "The second-generation Gasoline Technology Car demonstrates the huge potential of a mild hybrid when the 48-volt electrical system, the internal combustion engine and the operating strategies are optimised holistically as a complete system," says Jose Avila, Member of the Executive Board of Continental and President of the Powertrain Division. "The Ford Focus with its 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine, which has won multiple International Engine of the Year awards, provides an excellent starting point for a hybrid vehicle, showing the potential that hybridisation offers even for an engine that starts from such a high baseline. When integrating the GTC II concept, the focus was therefore on overall powertrain optimisation," says Carsten Weber, Manager Engine & Powertrain Systems Research & Advanced Engineering, Ford Europe. In its general principles, the GTC II has much in common with the GTC I. However, the GTC II goes a step further than the GTC I, exploiting potential that was still out of reach for the earlier model, both with regards to the electric drive system and the internal combustion engine. The electric motor on the GTC II is integrated in the drive train by means of a belt that runs between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and the transmission. Two clutches, one upstream and one downstream of the belt, allow the internal combustion engine to be completely decoupled when required. The electric motor can then be used independently of the ICE. As a result, the GTC II supports both constant-speed electric coasting at low load, as well as electric launch, for example in stop-start driving.