NVH challenges will ‘always require innovation’ – suppliers

Continuous development of the internal combustion engine (ICE) has provided many challenges for the automotive industry. As OEMs strive to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions, engine downsizing and turbocharging has become a major trend, but this puts more stress on the powertrain due to higher levels of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).

NVH is also a key concern for electric vehicles (EVs) as they do not benefit from the ‘masking’ effect of the noise from the ICE, while hybrids present a unique challenge because of vibrations from both the ICE and the motor. As a result, powertrain engineers believe that NVH will continue to pose a challenge for the foreseeable future.