BorgWarner nationalizes last-generation turbo

BorgWarner’s unit of Itatiba, SP, begins September the production of the B70H series, a line of specific global technology turbochargers for heavy trucks and buses. The opportunity for localization happened with the demand for future engines adequate to the new emission limits of the Proconve P8, the equivalent of the Euro 6, which will come into force in January 2023.

Knowledge exchange with the Bradford, England team, allowed the company’s Brazilian team to develop the so-called Ball Bearing technology. In a simple description, the component’s conventional bearings were replaced by a ball-bearing system.

With ball bearings, the turbo operates with less friction and more efficiency. According to the company, the Ball Bearing turbo shall deliver faster engine response with less consumption and emissions.

“The project aimed to deliver more torque at low engine speed”, tells Luis Fernando Dias Pinto, BorgWarner’s supervisor of OEM applications and validation engineering. “The technology allows to reach the maximum torque faster in low engine speed and generate more pressure.”

Despite the production start, the company isn’t yet revealing its estimate about the component demand by the truck and bus industry. “The customer is who will determine the volume”, explains Wilson Lentini, BorgWarner’s turbo unit general manager. “Next year, we will have a better idea about what the market will demand.”

Photograph: BorgWarner