16 May/June 2025 | E-Mobility Engineering Mike Bassett, Head of Engineering at MAHLE Powertrain, speaks to Will Gray about hybridisation, EV innovation and why the future of vehicle propulsion has many routes Finding the right direction Mike Bassett leads approximately 180 engineers and technicians tasked with innovating the technology behind MAHLE Powertrain’s advanced propulsion systems. Having initially been schooled in the thermodynamics of ICE engines, his route has followed a fascinating path as the world pivots from petrol, via hybridisation, to a currently EV-focused future. Accelerating developments in synthetic and zero-carbon fuels, advances in hydrogen fuel cell technologies and continued queries over battery resources, efficiency and range, however, all mean that while electrification might represent the most efficient solution, innovation in the areas of hybridisation, vehicle dynamics and even ICE technology could still be of huge value. Over the past 18 years, while at MAHLE Powertrain, Bassett has worked with one common focus in all these areas of technology, and he explains: “The projects I really enjoy are the most technically challenging ones, where perceived wisdom breaks down and you go back to the core principles, look in detail at the fundamental workings of things and find out how to improve them. “Most of the work we do with clients is confidential, but we’ve also done a lot of our own research projects over the years to demonstrate technology, and we’ve achieved innovation in many different areas. Some of our work is on particularly niche applications, and they really do drive some unusual requirements that then make you stop and think.” During Bassett’s career, priorities have changed from his initial work on innovations to create ICEs that deliver more powerful performance cars to his more current-day work on the creation of hybridisation and battery solutions, which make vehicles more efficient and effective in an era where emissions are taking increased priority. Back in his PhD days at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, his work involved modelling the gas dynamics in ICE intake and exhaust systems, and that led him to a job at Lotus Engineering, where he helped develop code that simulated intake and exhaust pressure waves. He also spent time looking at whole-vehicle efficiency and simulating fuel consumption over drive cycles in various vehicles. At the time, Lotus was developing a Proton Gen 2 hybrid demonstrator vehicle for its parent company, which led Bassett to make his first foray into hybridisation. Working on simulation of the vehicle drive cycle, he defined the specifications and sizes of components across the vehicle’s The WMC 300E+ motorbike concept alongside its battery pack (All images courtesy of MAHLE Powertrain)
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