“The Indian market continues to focus on low energy consumption”: Marelli

As emission norms tighten and fuel technologies evolve, advanced combustion systems are being pushed to deliver more efficiency from every drop of fuel. From 1,000-bar high-pressure GDI systems to ethanol-ready solutions and hybrid compatibility, Marelli is positioning itself at the centre of this transition. In an exclusive interaction with HT Auto, Giovanni Mastrangelo, Head of R&D for Marelli’s Propulsion business, shares insights on the future of gasoline engines and global powertrain trends.

Q: Marelli has commercialised a 1,000-bar GDI system, currently the highest pressure in the industry. From an engineering perspective, what were the biggest challenges in making such extreme pressures viable for real-world production engines, and where do you see the next gains coming from beyond pressure alone?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: The biggest challenges in this development can be summarised in trying to “reach several, conflicting targets", namely: high working pressure, up to 1000 bar; 1 mm 3 minimum injected quantity; multi-injection capabilities with short Dwell Time (DT) down to 200 microseconds (µs); dynamic flow curve with no limitations.

Furthermore, mechanical resistance and same size of standard GDI injectors have been additional constraints.

Q: As emission norms tighten globally, internal combustion engines are often seen as nearing the end of their lifecycle. How do advanced GDI systems reshape that narrative, and what role do you see high-efficiency gasoline engines playing alongside electrification over the next decade?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: Advanced GDI systems can have an important role in improving ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) thermal efficiency; this improvement is even more important for ICE used for Hybrid and Range Extender vehicle applications.

Thermal efficiency can be improved increasing the compression ratio. The higher the compression ratio, the better fuel mixture distribution control is needed to avoid knock; the target is to have a stable combustion.

Advanced GDI systems are the way to guarantee these results, leveraging High Injection Pressure and Multi Injection.

Q: Fuel quality, real-world driving conditions, and cost sensitivity vary significantly across markets. How does Marelli adapt its GDI technologies to ensure consistent performance and durability across regions with very different operating environments?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: We constantly monitor the different conditions and evolutions in each country. Moreover, our strategic approach is to develop global products using the "Platform" approach, so that these solutions can be easily adapted to satisfy specific regional and/or customer requirements. The rationale behind this choice is to achieve efficiency - enabling production in different locations, according to different needs - and cost competitiveness through standardisation.

Additionally, Marelli GDI product family covers the entire pressure range, from 200 bar up to 1000 bar, allowing engine manufacturers to select the most suitable solution for their applications/markets.

Q: India is moving rapidly towards stricter emission regulations while remaining a high-volume, price-sensitive market. How do you see advanced GDI systems fitting into India’s transition under BS6 Phase 2 and future norms, especially for mass-market vehicles?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: Our products are already in line with current and forecasted emissions legislation for the USA, Europe, India, Brazil and all the other automotive markets. We expect the use of GDI to become mainstream with new legislations becoming effective.

Product standardisation and other parameters will allow our products to be cost-competitive for mass market automotive applications.

Q: From your interactions with OEMs in India, what are the key powertrain priorities they are focusing on today: efficiency, compliance, performance, or electrification, and how is Marelli aligning its propulsion R&D strategy to support those needs?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: The main goals of the Indian market continue to be low energy consumption and compliance with emissions, while delivering good performance at an affordable cost. Electrification is a possible solution for improving vehicle efficiency, but it requires the appropriate infrastructure to spread in the market.

The current trend in all major automotive markets is to have a mix of

powertrain solutions (ICE, Hybrid, EV), from which customers can choose. Marelli’s product portfolio is positioned to support, with “state-of-the-art" products, all the powertrain range: throttle body, injectors, electric motor and inverter, plus electronic control units that can support every type of application.

Q: India is moving quickly towards higher ethanol blends such as E20, with E30 already being discussed. How does this shift in fuel composition impact the development and calibration of advanced GDI systems, and what challenges does it create for suppliers like Marelli?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: Use of ethanol blends (from 10% to 100%) impacts on the fuel system materials and on the software/calibrations of the vehicle. This is due to the fuel characteristics: as it is chemical, it is more corrosive, and due to the higher octane number, it is more knock oriented. At the same time, ethanol fuel is a “renewable" fuel.

Ethanol usage is growing in many countries; Marelli is already in production, in the Brazilian market, with both Flex Fuel (ethanol blends up to 30%) or Full Ethanol (E100) applications.

Specifically, we are market leaders in Brazil for Full Ethanol systems (ECU, software, calibrations, PFI and GDI injectors, heating fuel system ethanol sensor). A recent addition to these products has been an ethanol sensor, fully developed in-house and recently launched on the Brazilian market.

A Marelli internal development is looking to increase fuel working pressure with ethanol to improve combustion efficiency.

Q: Having led powertrain R&D across multiple continents, how have customer expectations and regulatory pressures evolved over the years, and what lessons from mature markets could be most relevant for fast-growing automotive markets like India?

Giovanni Mastrangelo: The push from legislators (on emissions, CO2, etc.) and from OEMs (to have products that are always better and cheaper) are the main drivers for innovation. Marelli products - and I would like to mention again the examples of the 1000bar injection pressure and the ethanol sensor again - are the answer to these two drivers.

The opportunity to work with different OEMs globally allows us to have an outlook of the trends and, of course, to transfer to growing markets, like India, experiences we had on the mature ones. But it’s always an osmosis: the technology transfers work in both directions: from global to local and vice versa.

Marelli's global expertise, coupled with local capabilities, is for us a key in the frame of India’s transition, which is progressing in two main directions: fuel evolution (such as ethanol blends or CNG) and “state-of-the-art" that can be used also on Hybrid applications.