Continental is committed to developing new intelligent charging technology

January 12, 2011, Regensburg, Germany/Detroit, USA. In order to promote the production of electric vehicles for daily use as soon as possible, Continental, a leading global automotive parts supplier, is committed to multi-faceted research on electric vehicle technology. The company is not only engaged in the development of electric vehicle drive components, energy storage systems and control units, but also gathers the collective wisdom and professional knowledge and skills of the entire company to make the electric vehicle navigation system ready for production, actively promote the networking of electric vehicles with the surrounding environment, and promote the construction of electric vehicle communication infrastructure.

The electronic systems developed by Continental help electric vehicles analyze the route in advance, determine the charging stations and charging times, make the charging process efficient and attractive, carefully monitor the battery level, and support simple cross-vendor charging models. With Continental's electronic systems, the power socket can remain universal because electric vehicles will become smarter.

“Continental is preparing for the new era of electromobility with great effort. This is necessary today, even though it is generally agreed that the conventional internal combustion engine will continue to dominate for many years to come. We want to ensure that electric vehicles can be used with the same naturalness, independence, flexibility and comfort as today’s cars or vehicles with diesel engines,” said Helmut Matschi, member of the Continental Executive Board and head of the Interior Electronics division, during the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. “Electric vehicles will meet customer needs more quickly and offer greater driving pleasure if they are fully networked from the outset. Finally, our technology will also greatly simplify the process of building the required charging infrastructure, because we are bringing charging intelligence to electric vehicles.”

Continental plans to meet these requirements with a network system, which is a virtual exchange and information center through which all system participants can handle information and data exchanges with the car and itself. But Continental not only provides the relevant platform and organizes data communication, but also develops the electronic systems required for electric vehicles. This usually includes GPS modules for positioning, GSM modules for mobile communication, and interfaces connected to the car bus system.

The biggest obstacle to the success of electric vehicles in everyday use is the consumer's concern about how far they can travel on a single charge. Until now, electronic navigation databases have only included static information about routes and, at most, information about topography. However, in cooperation with service providers and with the help of the vehicle's electronics, Continental is planning to provide a wide range of traffic information in real time, such as: Which routes are likely to be congested and to what extent? When do the heater and windshield wipers need to be switched on (in windy or bad weather)? How long does the air conditioning need to be on and where are the downhill slopes where the electric motor can act as a generator and the car can charge its own battery?

The energy supply of cars also requires changes in habits and technology. This applies not only to waiting times at charging stations - filling a tank takes only a few minutes, but a full charge of a battery can take at least half an hour and, in extreme cases, even half a day. At least during the longer transition phase, this also applies to the number of available charging points. Gas stations are almost everywhere, they are open 24 hours a day and can be used as a reserve tank in case of emergency. On the other hand, public charging stations for electric vehicles are still few and far between, most of them are still not fully integrated into the navigation system, and in some cases (such as when the charging station is in use by another vehicle), long waiting times are required. Continental's platform not only provides information on the location and availability of charging points on a daily basis, but the virtual traffic center also knows when and for how long these charging stations will be occupied by which vehicles. This allows the driver to book charging times while driving (if desired, this can be done fully automatically) and to schedule the required charging periods as efficiently as possible. The same process can be used for vehicles and ride concepts that are not based on battery charging but on battery swapping.

When planning a route, Continental's electronic systems take into account not only the requirements of the car and the battery, but also those of the driver. Depending on the time and the driver's appointment schedule, priority is given to charging points at restaurants, shopping centers, health centers or other special destinations. If the current surroundings do not help to pass the time, the Continental Service Platform also provides in-car access to e-mail and social networks as well as Internet radio and TV. The associated AutoLinQ system from Continental and Deutsche Telekom interacts perfectly with the latest freely programmable instrument clusters.

Power sockets remain universal - electric vehicles become smarter

With this platform and its interfaces to system partners, Continental also supports intelligent, controlled charging via conventional power sockets. Since all intelligent information and control of the charging process is in the car, even complex charging algorithms can be processed via a conventional power socket. It is the control electronics, not the socket, that decide when and how much to charge, whether to charge quickly or slowly, or whether to charge at night (when electricity prices are lower). This innovative approach from Continental can greatly accelerate the construction of electric vehicle infrastructure while significantly reducing the investments required by communities and energy suppliers.

While gasoline and diesel fuel are usually purchased directly at the gas station today, the new era of electric mobility requires completely new charging and payment models similar to those used by mobile communication providers. Continental's system also takes this into account in advance. All consumption data and charging information are available online via the platform and distributed to energy suppliers and mobility providers. Electric vehicles not only receive the latest charging data so that the driver can know as quickly as possible, they can also calculate their energy consumption very easily and accurately.