Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, a world leader in vehicle heating equipment, will present the new High Voltage Heater (HVH) technology as part of the “New Methods of Heating Hybrid and Electric Vehicles” presentation at the 2015 SAE World Congress and Exhibition.
New methods of heating hybrid and electric vehicles
Webasto’s HVH program manager Alejandro Regueiro co-authored the “New Methods of Heating Hybrid and Electric Vehicles” paper, in which Webasto presents the findings of a multi-year research and development program aimed to bring an all-new HVH into production for use in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). The paper also explains the advantages of Webasto’s patented heat layer technology over existing market technologies and the performance and technical specifications of the HVH.
Regueiro will present on Thursday, April 23 at 8:00 AM. The Presentation will be held in room 251A at Cobo Center in Detroit.
Introducing HVH
Hybrid and electric vehicles have a heat deficit due to frequent operation of the engine in high-efficiency regions or during pure electric driving where the engine as a heat resource is not available. The heating of the interior of a vehicle is an important function to ensure safe and comfortable driving. In the past, fuel operated heaters were already introduced into hybrid and electric vehicles. However, the need for an emission free vehicle heating system led to the necessity to find another option.
Webasto’s HVH met this challenge and created a fast, efficient and safe generation of heat, with a minimum drain from the traction battery with its heat layer technology. The HVH utilizes a directly applied and thermally sprayed-on thin film resistive heating layer technology.
“The heart of the HVH is the layer technology Webasto has brought to the automotive industry for the first time – a technology which enables advancements in safety, efficiency, responsiveness, comfort, size, weight and functionality for electric automotive heating,” said Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, Inc. president and CEO, Dr. Rolf Haag.
The performance of the new HVH was verified internally and externally during development. The major performance improvements compared to existing heater systems include no inrush current, no power limitation by increasing voltage or coolant temperatures, stable voltage and current from start of operation and very short electrical and thermal response time.
“North America has over 40 percent of the global BEV and PHEV consumption,” said Haag. “Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, Inc. has a dedicated team providing complete commercial and technical support for North American OEMs. We are well positioned to ensure smooth product integration and successful production launches with our customers."
Webasto’s HVH will see the first production passenger vehicle application launch later this year.
