Continental believes that direct-injection (DI) gasoline engines still offer significant further potential and is therefore continuing to press forward with the development of components and engine management concepts for this type of engine.

Meanwhile, the company also believes electric mobility must become more cost-efficient. The companies motto is “Electrification, tailored to fit.”

As Continental explained, today, internal combustion engines often continue running even in situations where this is not absolutely necessary in terms of maintaining propulsion.

In the interests of systematic optimization, the engine should ideally be shut down in such phases.

Continental believes such optimization could be significantly assisted by electrification.

“Continental is taking a pragmatic approach to hybridization,” said Xavier Pujol, Head of the Hybrid Electric Vehicle Business Unit within the Powertrain Division. “Our approach starts with utilizing the full potential of 12V electrical networks. If more electrical power is required, a second – 48V – voltage level can be added. The Continental 48-volt system, incorporating a lithium-ion battery of cost-efficient size and with an energy rating of, say, 10 Ah, would be capable of supporting a wide range of mild hybrid functions without needing high-voltage capability and at a realistic market price. Such ‘tailored to fit electrification’ would allow carmakers to take a step-by-step approach.”

Unlike cost-intensive full hybrid systems, a 48-volt system does not require modification of the engine and transmission configuration. For Continental, this means it can be implemented cost-efficiently, for smaller vehicle models as well.

“More effective energy recovery with the 48V system, and intelligent operating strategies, allow significant savings to be achieved in everyday driving,” says Pujol, summing up the benefits for the driver.

Such operating strategies include “sailing” and “coasting.” In the so-called “sailing” mode, the vehicle can be kept at a constant speed using the 48-volt system’s electrical power, while in coasting mode, the vehicle freewheels or, for example, its kinetic energy is intelligently recovered as it coasts to a standstill.

Continental believes that in light of the above potential, 48-volt electrification in combination with an optimized DI gasoline engine will prove to be a particularly attractive configuration.

By simultaneously developing both of the above-mentioned “clean power” pathways – the internal combustion engine and electrification – Continental said it will be able to support the complete range of optimization strategies on the road to providing clean personal mobility in the year 2020 and beyond.

The post Continental Believes In Electrification Tailored To Fit appeared first on HybridCars.com.

Automotive supplier Continental is working on easing the use of carsharing vehicles by means of a new key technology: a digital car key wirelessly installed in a smartphone together with a special utility program for cell phones.

The company believes this could revolutionize the spontaneous rental of cars.

Together with Veolia, EVTRONIC, Mercur, and Proxiway, Continental has now started a field test in Bordeaux with a fleet consisting of electric vehicles.

The goal is to create an electric vehicle fleet, which different small and medium enterprises could operate in carsharing. The users gain access to the vehicle by Smartphone and, in addition, they can reserve quick charging stations via the cell phone app.

As technology partner in the project, Continental is launching a complete carsharing solution, including the smartphone car key, the in-car electronics, and the fleet management.

“The smartphone offers users of the electric vehicle fleet in Bordeaux everything from a single source: the car hire station, the car key, and the charging station. The technology provided by Continental for the digital key makes the system particularly convenient, easy, and flexible for operators and users,” explains Andreas Wolf, head of Continental’s Body & Security business unit.

The heart of the car sharing system is Continental’s digital key, which exchanges data with the vehicle using near field communication (NFC).

Continental sends an encrypted forgery-proof data record to the cell phone each time a vehicle is about to be used. Stored on the SIM card, the record contains access authorization for the respective vehicle.

By means of NFC technology, the cell phone transmits the data (authentication, vehicle and diagnosis data, and user profile) across a distance of a few centimeters to an NFC reader integrated into the vehicle windshield. The NFC reader recipient verifies not only access to the vehicle but also permission to start the engine.

The main advantage of using a cell phone as car key is flexibility. Users can rent vehicles on the spur of the moment and easily load the key data onto their cell phone.

“New mobility concepts are becoming increasingly important throughout the world. Our safeguarded end-to-end systems approaches for conveniently accessing and starting a vehicle via smartphone make an important contribution to this trend. Our technology facilitates cost-efficient solutions that users can operate intuitively and easily,” says Wolf.

A special app for smartphones makes it possible to rent a vehicle from the carsharing fleet. The user can use the utility program to find, select, and reserve vehicles in the city region.

The smartphone can even navigate the user to the car’s location.

It’s even possible to rent a vehicle spontaneously: As soon as the user holds his or her cell phone against an available car, a digital key is generated and sent to the smartphone once an availability check has been carried out on the server.

The digital key unlocks the car and, depending on how it is programmed, the app retrieves further data on the condition of the vehicle, before switching to a convenient navigation system.

The same principles allow users to reserve a charging station time slot by cell phone app, identify themselves with their cell phone via NFC, and initiate the quick charging process.

The post Continental Testing Digital Car Key For EV Carsharing Fleets appeared first on HybridCars.com.

As Google did earlier last year also, automotive supplier Continental received Nevada’s “Autonomous Vehicle Testing License” – a state approval from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to test automated driving on the state’s public roads.

Continental’s testing license is for the company’s highly automated vehicle, and represents the first license granted by the Nevada DMV to an automotive supplier.

“At Continental, we continue to invest in research and development for next generation technologies – such as our highly automated vehicle – that will drive us toward a safer, more efficient and more comfortable future,” said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chairman of the executive board of Continental. “As a company, Continental’s strategy is clearly focused on making this type of future technology a reality. It’s clear to us that automated driving will be a key element in the mobility of the future. As a system supplier, we are perfectly positioned to develop and launch series production of solutions for partially automated systems for our customers by 2016. We will be able to develop the first applications for highly and ultimately fully automated driving, even at higher speeds and in more complex driving situations, ready for production by 2020 or 2025.”

After completing driving demonstrations on Dec. 18 in Carson City, Nev., the DMV’s Autonomous Review Committee approved Continental’s safety plans, employee training, system functions and accident reporting mechanisms.

Following these approvals, Continental will receive its testing license and red license plate featuring an infinity sign to represent the car of the future.

The plate is designed to be easily recognized by law enforcement and the public at large. This license plate will only be used for licensed test vehicles for automated driving.

“This vehicle demonstrates what modern technology can do to provide a safer, more comfortable drive. Earning this license represents an important intermediate step towards automated driving for Continental,” said Dr. Peter Rieth, head of Systems & Technology in Continental’s Chassis & Safety Division. “Continuing our research and testing in the most challenging environment – public roads – will allow us to continue to assess and develop our highly automated vehicle.”

Continental says its current highly automated vehicle is designed to always have a driver monitoring the vehicle behind the wheel, unlike a completely driverless vehicle.

The automated vehicle can accommodate, according to Continental, multiple driving scenarios. Utilizing four short-range radar sensors (two at the front, two at the rear), one long-range radar and a stereo camera, the vehicle is capable of cruising down an open freeway as well as negotiating heavy rush-hour traffic.

Taking advantage of Continental’s sensor fusion technology as part of the ContiGuard safety concept, the vehicle is able to track all objects as they enter into the sensors’ field of view. The object information is then processed and passed on to the control unit (Continental Motion Domain Controller) to control the vehicle’s longitudinal and lateral motion via signals to the engine, the brakes and the steering system.

The equipment in Continental’s highly automated vehicle differs from the customized sensors and tailor-made actuators in other automated vehicles. The vehicle, which has already logged more than 15,000 test miles (24,000 kilometers), is built primarily with equipment that is already available in series production.

Continental says its short term goal is to relieve the driver of tedious and monotonous activities, such as driving on highways with minimal traffic or in low-speed situations like traffic jams.

Although the concept of complete fully automated driving is valid, it is not yet fully viable, according to Continental. Continental’s highly automated vehicle, however, is seen by the company as an intermediate step toward fully automated driving.

Continental’s vehicle brings Continental closer to achieving the company’s Vision Zero – the goal of reaching zero accidents and zero fatalities on the roadways. Continental will continue real world evaluations with this vehicle.

Continental expects that, starting in 2016, partially automated systems may be assisting drivers in “stop & go” situations on the freeway at low speeds of up to 19 mph.

“Over the last few weeks, we on the Executive Board have considered the strategic and budget planning for our five divisions for the coming year in great detail. For our automotive divisions, this planning includes all of the necessary elements that need to be implemented step-by-step across the board so that fully-automated driving becomes reality by 2025,” said Dr. Elmar Degenhart, chairman of the Executive Board of Continental.

According to Continental, with suitable systems on board, drivers will in the future be able to decide whether to do the driving themselves or to let the vehicle take control. With the market launch of highly automated vehicles by 2020, drivers will be able to concentrate on other activities, such as reading the latest headlines on the Internet. This will give drivers much more freedom.

At the same time, an automatically controlled vehicle will be even safer thanks to the increased interaction with itself and its environment. Furthermore, the energy management and driving characteristics of the vehicle will be optimized on the basis of a real-time data concept, thereby enabling more energy-efficient driving.

Today, more than 1,250 specialists at Continental are working on the basics of automated driving. They are working specifically on driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control and emergency brake assistance, which employ sophisticated technology to record the vehicle environment using a camera, infrared, and radar in various driving situations and therefore to warn, support, and relieve the driver.

While Continental expects to launch autonomous vehicles progressively in 2016, 2020 and fully autonomous in 2025, legislation is decisive when it comes to actual market launch.

“The basic technical prerequisite for the implementation of automated driving is system reliability. Road safety of the highest degree is therefore the essential foundation on which automated driving must be based,” explained Degenhart. In concrete terms, this calls for fail-safe architecture that keeps the vehicle in a safe state in the event of a fault. However, the time frame for development of this necessary safety architecture will not be the sole factor that determines the timing of market launch: “Legislative bodies will take the major decisions as to when and how automated vehicles will be introduced onto the market, and the required legal framework still needs to be drawn up,” added Degenhart.

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