Upgradable Mechatronic Systems – Integration of Upgrade Planning and Design for Sustainable Vehicle Development

The automotive industry faces the challenge of developing vehicles that meet current customer requirements while being future-proof. Surveys show that customers fear financial risks associated with essential subsystems like batteries due to aging and performance degradation, which significantly affects the service life of vehicles. Therefore, the rapid technological progress in electrified powertrain systems requires innovative approaches for high adaptability to changing demands. This paper presents an approach combining foresight-based planning of system-level upgrades with product architecture design to create adaptable and sustainable vehicles through modularity. Potential battery and energy storage technologies are identified, their market introduction is forecasted, and they are analyzed technically-functional and geometrically to create flexible design spaces within the product architecture. This enables the future integration of new, more efficient, or higher-performance battery technologies into existing vehicles. The integrability and functional fulfillment of the selected technologies are evaluated through a combination of impact and criticality analysis with virtual modeling. Future systems are assessed regarding their relevance, while interfaces and installation spaces are dimensioned based on technical data. By applying upgradable mechatronic systems, future requirements are already considered during the development process, addressing customer concerns. The result is a product architecture with flexible design spaces and corresponding interfaces that allow the incorporation of future technologies. This increases the sustainability of vehicles, extends their service life, and improves resale value, benefiting both customers and manufacturers.