About this episode

Ravi Tallamraju discusses the urgent need for lubricant development to adapt to the evolving challenges of the electric vehicle era.

In this keynote from F+L Week 2026 in Bangkok, Ravi Tallamraju — Group Chief Technology Officer of PETRONAS Lubricants International — makes a compelling case that lubricant development must undergo a fundamental shift: from friction reduction to functional fluid engineering.With nearly 40 years in the industry, Ravi unpacks three forces converging on lubricant manufacturers simultaneously: complex and fragmented emission regulations across every major market; an explosion of fuel and powertrain choices — from BEVs and hybrids to hydrogen ICE and ammonia — each requiring fundamentally different fluid properties; and a specification landscape so fragmented that achieving full EU light-duty OEM approval coverage for a single formulation could cost upwards of USD 29 million.He draws on PETRONAS Lubricants International's own technology development — including its 0W-16 ultra-low SAPS Urania Next engine oil and next-generation 3-in-1 BEV e-axle fluid — as examples of what ahead-of-regulation, fuel-agnostic formulation strategy looks like in practice.His conclusion is a call to the industry: the complexity is unsustainable. Better collaboration, co-engineering with OEMs, and…

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