With its New Baseline (NBL) generator family, Bosch has a robust, compact, and especially economical generator model in its product portfolio. The generator is designed for cars with low electricity requirements, and is therefore ideal for reasonably priced small cars. By leveraging Bosch’s international production alliance, the generators can be produced directly in the respective automaker’s country. Series production will begin in mid-2010 in Changsha, China, for Geely, First Automotive Works (FAW), and Volkswagen. Production has been underway in Brazil and India since 2008 and 2009 respectively.

· Robust and especially economical generators for small cars

· Compact design reduces installation space requirements

· Series start in China in mid-2010

“The New Baseline generators are robust, compact, and cost-effective, and therefore perfect for the Chinese market,” says Tirso Boada, regional president at Bosch Starter Motors and Generators in China. Designed for vehicles with relatively few electricity consumers, the three available sizes of the New Baseline generator cover the power range from 1.0 to 1.8 kilowatts. At 6,000 revolutions per minute, this is equal to a rated current of 70 to 125 amperes. Efficiency of up to 66 percent (according to VDA) helps to keep the vehicle’s fuel consumption low – and therefore CO2 emissions as well.

Further benefits are provided by the New Baseline generators’ extremely compact structure. Thanks to their small length (without pulley) of 117.5 to 120.5 millimetres, they are especially ideal for installation in engine compartments where space is at a premium. And even at high temperatures, their performance falls only marginally. The generators are equipped with high-performance voltage regulators, which can be easily integrated with axial, radial, or tangential plug-in connectors into the most diverse vehicle models. For vehicles that need more electricity, Bosch offers its Efficiency Line generators.

Hybrid drives already power two percent of vehicles newly registered worldwide; this figure is set to rise to around seven percent in the next ten years. With hybrid vehicles becoming ever more popular automobile workshops are increasingly faced with this drive technology. This poses new challenges for the engineers in terms of their specialist knowledge and skills. The hybrid vehicle has a twin drive; this makes troubleshooting more complex and means that specialist knowledge is required to handle the high electrical voltages and currents safely. The new technology is a perfect opportunity for the automobile workshops to get ahead of the game and establish themselves as experts in the field. Bosch is supporting the workshops in their efforts with diagnostics systems, the latest technical information and practical training courses.

· Increasing number of hybrid vehicles

· Getting to grips with new technology requires specialist knowledge

· Workshops are familiarizing themselves using Bosch diagnostics systems and training courses

Bosch played a pioneering role in developing new components for hybrid technology and currently supplies original equipment for the hybrid vehicle technology. Bosch has even taken the needs of the workshops into consideration. The result was a special Bosch handheld FSA 050 tester that can be used on high-voltage systems and communicates wirelessly with the basic series 7 FSA vehicle system analysis devices. The tester can also be used as a stand-alone device. The new FSA 050 handheld tester is due to be unveiled in September this year at the Automechika exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Bosch workshop software Esitronic already contains the technical data and diagnostics values for the latest hybrid vehicles. A full control unit diagnosis can be carried out for the Toyota Prius II, and from July 2010 the Prius I model. This will also include the new Toyota Prius III, the Honda Civic 2 and the Honda Insight from October 2010. More new models will be added when the software is updated every quarter, for example the VW Touareg in April 2011.

To enable the workshops to keep up with the latest requirements of a modern hybrid vehicle, Bosch is providing a new training course ‘Safety procedures for specialist work on HV (High Voltage) vehicles’. The course includes practical and theoretical modules where experienced trainers can pass on their expertise in dealing with the new high-voltage technology, as well as principles, hybrid components, drive concepts and control electronics. The workshops can also direct any questions relating to hybrid vehicle technology to the Bosch technical hotline. This will ensure that the workshop is prepared for the future market when it comes to servicing and repairing hybrid vehicles.