From hybrid challenge to supercar performance: How a leading sports car manufacturer mastered electrification with ETAS INCA
The new generation sportscar of a leading North American OEM marked a fundamental engineering shift to a new platform. But with the arrival of their new hybrid supercar, the engineering team faced a new frontier: integrating electric drive, regenerative brake torque vectoring, energy optimization, and battery‑safety calibration into a supercar while preserving the vehicle's unique driving dynamics. To achieve their goals, the team partnered with ETAS. They utilized ETAS INCA and ETK-interfaces to transition complex, multi-ECU hybrid behaviors from concept to road-ready reality, successfully bridging the gap between performance and efficiency.
Mastering dynamic torque blending for uncompromised supercar performance
By adding an electrical motor to the front axle the longitudinal as well as lateral dynamics improved significantly. Engineers mastered the front-axle torque blending and dynamic torque vectoring to deliver superior traction, sharper cornering, and uncompromised supercar performance.
Using ETAS INCA's real-time capabilities, engineers could simultaneously optimize bi-directional torque blending between the controller of the combustion engine and the controller of the electric motor to preserve the vehicle's legendary driving character. This advanced workflow optimized battery thermal stability and safety functions as well as delivering an electrified supercar with unmatched acceleration, exceptional cornering control, and full regulatory safety compliance.
At a glance
Challenge
The need for millisecond-accurate torque blending and precise high-voltage battery validation across multiple control units including time synchronized measurement of the complete vehicle BUS communication to perfectly match the interplay of both power sources.
Solution
An integrated ETAS calibration and measurement setup featuring INCA, high-performance ETK modules, and EV specific features to manage the complex calibration and validation cycles.
Customer achievement
Established a fully synchronized calibration workflow that accelerating time-to-market.
The challenge
Developing the hybrid supercar introduced severe calibration complexities beyond traditional workflows. The team required millisecond-accurate torque blending between the rear engine and front electric motor. Additionally, they had to manage high-voltage battery safety, brake-based torque vectoring, which is directly linked to the regenerative braking system, allowing it to improve cornering speeds in addition to regenerating energy under extreme driving maneuvers.
The solution
The manufacturer implemented ETAS INCA, high‑performance measurement modules, and domain‑specific EV instruments e.g. phasor diagrams. This integrated setup enabled live, time synchronized recording and calibration of electric torque, battery limits, and regenerative braking during dynamic track testing. This approach reduced development time and improved efficiency without hardware revisions.
Customer achievements
The ETAS solution delivered measurable gains throughout the hybrid supercar development:
Improved torque blending and torque vectoring
Engineers calibrated electric torque delivery of the front axle across dynamic drive modes — delivering improved traction and cornering ability.
Optimized system performance instead of costly hardware upgrades
Through refining cooling and power‑limit strategies in INCA, engineers unlocked performance improvements without mechanical redesign.
Scalable processes supporting future electrification
The calibration flow established in the program is now reusable for later hybrid or full‑EV variants, allowing the customer to accelerate time-to-market.
This successful collaboration has established a robust foundation for the manufacturer's electrified future. Having proven the efficiency of ETAS INCA, the team has standardized a highly reusable calibration workflow. Both companies look forward to future collaborations, scaling these automated measurement processes to support upcoming high-performance hybrid and electric lineups.
Contact our experts today to learn how ETAS INCA can accelerate your vehicle electrification.
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