Development and validation of complex mechatronic systems for the urban mobility of tomorrow

How does the powertrain of tomorrow look like? This question has driven the automobile industry since its existence. But it seems to get more and more difficult to answer it. One of the reasons for this is the broad diversification of the powertrain and the question which one is optimal. But this is not a novel issue for the automobile industry. Back to its beginning in the early 20th century in the US, the center of the automobile industry, almost 40 % of the vehicles were electrically driven, 40 % of the vehicles had a steam engine and only 20 % of the vehicles had a combustion engine.