In the huge garage hall at the University’s INES institute in Bohlsbach, we are surrounded by old prototypes of the Schluckspecht power-saving speedster. “We could turn this into a museum,” Professor Claus Fleig muses while showing Markus Schuler, head of Neumayer Tekfor’s production planning division, around the building and explaining the special features of each Schluckspecht model. Schuler and Hausach plant manager Jörg Stoffels have just delivered the newest addition to the fleet, a white electrical Fiat 500, in the presence of Rector Winfried Lieber and Professors Fleig and Alfred Isele on behalf of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering.

At Neumayer Tekfor’s, the car had been used for internal-development testing, e.g. for two-stage gear systems, and to gain practical experiences with mechanical parts in electric vehicles. Since the company has reoriented itself and longer pursues R&D in this field, the test car became superfluous in Hausach and was donated to Offenburg University – a fortunate circumstance especially for students of mechatronics. “With this Fiat we now have a great test vehicle with which students can apply their theoretical knowledge in real practice,” says Claus Fleig, especially since automotive mechatronics is a field the M+V Department plans to expand on.

A particular highlight of the vehicle is its refitted electrical engine, demonstrating and providing further ideas for lithium-ion battery retrofitting. “The car fits perfectly into our research and teaching activities,” says Rector Lieber, looking back on years of rewarding cooperation with Neumayer Tekfor. The company regularly hosts excursions to its Hausach plant and collaborates with research projects and thesis work; as a result, a number of M+V graduates have also found work with the company. Sustainable indeed!