AVL

AVL

Type	Private
ISIN	🆔
Industry	Automotive
Founded 📆	1948 (1948)
Founder 👔
Headquarters 🏙️	Graz, Austria
Number of locations	45 countries
Area served 🗺️
Key people	Helmut List (Chairman & CEO)
Revenue🤑	€1.6 billion (2021)
Members
Number of employees	10,700 (2021)
🌐 Website	www.avl.com
📇 Address
📞 telephone

For other uses, see AVL.

AVL is a company for the development, simulation and testing in the automotive sector and in other industries. The company with headquarters in Graz, Austria,  employs 10,700 people worldwide and generated a turnover of €1.6 billion in 2021. AVL is represented in 26 countries with 45 Global Tech and Engineering Centers worldwide

AVL's Key Topics are:

• Electrification - Development support, test and validation solutions, simulation tools and comprehensive know-how for all technologies: from mild and plug-in hybrids to battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles
• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Autonomous Driving (AD) - System design, calibration and validation services, tailored software and controls development, as well as tools and methods for development and testing
• Vehicle - powertrain integration into the vehicle, attribute engineering, thermal management & HVAC, NVH development, chassis solutions, software and prototypes as well as supplier management, industrialization and homologation
• Zero-Impact Emission - ICE-based powertrains, hybrid-based powertrains, RDE / ISC & WLTP, alternative Fuels, Emission Legislation Expertise
• Data Intelligence - supporting the complete vehicle development process from concept phase to after-sales management

Innovation and Research

AVL has more than 1,500 patents in force, of which 300 were granted in 2020 alone. In Austria, AVL has been the company with the most patent applications per year since 2012. In 2020, roughly 12 % of the annual turnover of € 1.7 billion was invested in research and development. In the field of research, AVL cooperates globally with more than 50 universities and many industrial partners, as well as with many associations at EU level.

Company History

The early years, from 1948

In 1948, a group of engine experts headed by Prof. Dr. Hans List joined forces in a joint venture and founded the Ingenierbüro List (IBL). The goal was to develop modern engines, based on the latest findings obtained from fundamental research, whilst at the same time taking into account the growing economic criteria within the industry. The first diesel engines were mass-produced at the Jenbacher Werke in Tirol and the Andritz Machine Works in Graz in 1949.

The 1950s

In 1951, IBL became AVL – Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List. In 1952, the Central research premises were established in Kleiststraße with funds from the Marshall Plan. This site remains the home of the group headquarters and the central research and development premises. One of the most important achievements in the early stages of the company came in 1958 with the development of the first direct-injection four-stroke diesel engines for trucks to be equipped swirl ducts. These replaced the two-stroke engines and four-stroke prechamber engines, which had been the norm to this point.

The 1960s

In 1963, the intensive development of diesel engine technology led to the construction of an 18-cylinder, two-stroke diesel engine generating 2,250 hp. As well as engine development, AVL also began to manufacture engine testing devices in the early 1960s, and started the series production of quartz pressure sensors, gravimetric fuel consumption measuring equipment, flue gas measuring devices, and complete engine combustion analysis systems. In 1969, the first fully-automatic digital test bench was installed at the AVL headquarters.

The 1970s

At the start of the 1970s, the first fully-automatic AVL test stands went on sale. Other milestones achieved in this decade were the development of capsule technology to soundproof engines, as well as the development of DI diesel engines for passenger cars in 1974. Two years later, AVL presented the first prototype of a light diesel engine (LD). In 1979 Helmut List, who had been working for the company since 1966 and is the son of the company’s founder, took over as chairman of the board of management.

The 1980s

In 1982, the company introduced a procedure that allowed real-time insights into the combustion processes of diesel engines. In 1985, AVL commissioned a highly-dynamic test bench, with which it was possible to test a real engine in a virtual car for the first time. In 1986, large-scale production began of the world’s first HSDI diesel engine (High Speed Direct Engine), developed by AVL, as a drive system for light commercial vehicles.

The 1990s

In the 1990s, AVL implemented tomographic combustion analysis (TCA). This made it possible to visually record combustion phenomena in a production-based Otto engines. AVL also started dealing with the topic of electrification at an early stage and, in 1992, joined forces with a manufacturer to develop the test bed demonstrator for a full hybrid drive. This Universal Hybrid System (UHS) combined a combustion engine with two electric engines via a planetary gear. From 1993, AVL was the first company in the world to supply specific motorsport test beds, with which it was possible to simulate the dynamic requirements of racing engines (for example, Formula 1 and the Indy Series).

The 2000s

In 2002, AVL opened its test track in Gratkorn, near Graz. It followed this, in the same year, by taking over the MTC AB engine test center in Sweden. In 2003, the Helmut List Hall in Graz opened as an event center for up to 2,400 visitors. Also in 2003, AVL took over German engine developer Schrick and incorporated it in the company. In 2007, AVL ramped up its internationalization with the acquisition of French drive system service provider Le Moteur Moderne. In 2008, the new subsidiary “AVL Software and Functions GmbH” was founded in Regensburg, Germany.

The 2010s

The “AVL Shanghai Tech Center” battery laboratory opened in 2010. This was followed in 2015 by a second technical center in China: the “AVL Tianjin Technical Center”. In 2014, AVL acquired a controlling stake in qpunkt, a company specializing in thermal management, fluid dynamics and acoustics. In 2016, AVL entered into a partnership with Greenlight Innovation Corp., one of the world’s leading providers of test and production facilities for hydrogen fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries and energy storage systems. In 2017, AVL and TU Graz commissioned a joint competence center for the research and development of innovative transmission systems. Further facilities followed in the form of the ADAS battery test lab in Graz in 2018, and the AVL Maritime Office in Hamburg in 2019.

The 2020s

In 2021, the Battery Innovation Center opened in Graz: a competence center for innovative battery concepts, with which AVL is supporting the automobile industry in its shift to electromobility.

AVL Advanced Simulation Technologies

Engine Thermodynamics & Internal Flow Analysis

• FIRE
• FIRE M
• BOOST
• HYDSIM
• FAME

Engine Structural Dynamics

• EXCITE PowerUnit
• EXCITE Piston&Ring
• EXCITE Timing Drive

Engine Acoustic simulation

• EXCITE Acoustics

Vehicle Concept Simulation

• CRUISE M
• ADVISOR

Vehicle Flow Mechanics

• SWIFT
• FAME

Online Solutions

• ADVISOR
• eFAME

Battery Testing LYNX (Hardware and Software)

Powertrain Testing PUMA (Hardware and Software)

References

• The Electrification of the Powertrain.

External links

• Battery and Boost: The AVL Turbo Hybrid Concept (PopSci)

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