Background Information on Road Vehicle Research
Individual traffic will be the major pillar of global traffic in the next 30 to 50 years. The reason is the increase of individual mobility, which can be summarised: “mobility is life”. To compensate the negative impact of individual road traffic increase on the environment, energy resources, as well as individual health and safety, an integrated research approach for future vehicles is essential. The technology convergence between mechanical engineering, electronics and telematics is still in its infancy and thus, represents vast potential for competitive advantage within the automotive industry. The road vehicle of the future will obviously incorporate an array of technologies, but in consideration of still uncertain basis of social and environmental conditions, the question arises as to how and which technology routes should be followed to solve problems and conflicts faced by society in terms of energy consumption, emissions and safety, whilst vehicle manufacturers struggle to deliver high value and attractive products at competitive prices and to meet the needs of future mobility.
Automotive
R&D today has become a more international, collaborative effort within
and between research organisations, universities and industry. Although
research activities are funded by the various public organisations, there
is much potentially available synergy due to disjointed co-ordination
between those organisations and their activities. To develop co-ordinated
and focussed activities for the long term, an improved strategic collaboration
through research networks is necessary. The FURORE Network aims
at improving this by creating an integrated, long-term research strategy
for the European automotive sector, which is based on the specific point
of view of RTD organisations and Universities and should complement the
more product-oriented scenarios of OEMs.
FURORE Network Objectives
Accordingly, the overall objective of the FURORE Thematic Network is to establish a platform for the creation of an Automotive R&D Technology Roadmap describing breakthrough technologies for the next generation of vehicles for the year 2020 and beyond. The Network is focusing predominantly on technologies for road vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, but also analyses the potential of breakthrough technologies in comparison with alternative fuels and systems such as hybrids and fuel cells. Focused on RTD organisations and Universities, the FURORE Network forms a hub linking the significant and growing number of Community, national and industry funded Networks concerned with future vehicle technologies.
The innovative character of the FURORE Network is the integration and linking of European research networks within the automotive sector. A Roadmap describing technology expectations and needs and priorities for automotive research in the coming two decades is being established. FURORE looks into potential links with related technologies through information exchange and use technology transfer to maximize return-on-investment from collaborative European research efforts within FP5. The FURORE Network aims to merge basic research work focussing on technological scenarios and derived needs beyond the year 2020. Thus, the network aims at contributing to the definition of FP6 and future Framework Programmes.
