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Mak­ing mo­bil­ity a great place to live: Continental pre­sents safe, clean and in­tel­li­gent prod­uct so­lu­tions

Significant changes are taking place in the situation surrounding the auromotive industry and the relationship between people and motor vehicles are now diversified. This transcends established technologies and tried-and-tested business models. With the introduction of new technologies, Continental considers greater vehicle diversity to be a real possibility in the future. Under the slogan “Making Mobility … Continued

Significant changes are taking place in the situation surrounding the auromotive industry and the relationship between people and motor vehicles are now diversified. This transcends established technologies and tried-and-tested business models. With the introduction of new technologies, Continental considers greater vehicle diversity to be a real possibility in the future. Under the slogan “Making Mobility a Great Place to Live”, the technology company is showcasing solutions from three innovation streams – assisted and automated driving, electrification and connectivity in mobility. Using this mobility will enrich living spaces for people in the future. The booth resembles a city plaza with one promenade where visitors can wander around the technology company’s innovations. On the plaza, an interactive presentation makes it possible to travel through time to the stress-free urban mobility of the future.

In the last century, our cities and living spaces were dominated by the needs of car traffic in particular. Now, in the 21st century, the needs of people have increasingly become the focus of mobility. This can be seen in the vehicles of the future, in which offices and living rooms merge into an innovative and completely individual living space on wheels. With our solutions, we want to show people how intelligent and connected mobility will afford them a level of freedom that has not been possible in day-to-day life until now.

New technologies are successful only if they are not just reliable, but also affordable, accepted by markets and society, as well as politically endorsed and permitted by law. Continental is convinced that only by working together and through mutual agreement can industry and politicians pave the way for electrified, automated and connected mobility and therefore for cleaner air and accident-free, comfortable driving.

Assisted and automated driving innovation stream

One of the innovation streams is automated driving. Continental is presenting its development platform, CUbE (Continental Urban mobility Experience). Continental expects that, in the future, robo-taxis like these will play a crucial role as an addition to public transport, efficiently addressing the “first mile – last mile” challenge by enabling seamless, stress-free mobility in cities and suburbs. Experts anticipate that it will be possible to avoid many city-center traffic jams through the large-scale use of autonomous shuttle fleets. At the same time, fully automated vehicles will offer the opportunity to travel from door to door with public transport. A large number of diverse technologies, with which Continental has many years of experience, are used in the development platform – from sensors, electronic control units, software algorithms, tires, surface materials and brake systems to drive technologies.

Continental started testing automated driving on public roads back in 2012 in the U.S. state of Nevada and brought the development vehicle to Japan and conduct testing in Japan since 2014, too. The technology company advanced technology verification on the public roads through Japan’s Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) Automated Driving Field operation Test to  that was officially kicked off on October 3rd  in Japan.

In an interactive presentation, visitors to Continental will experience how Continental’s team of developers visualize the safe, clean, intelligently connected and affordable mobility of the future. With the help of virtual reality goggles, they will experience the vehicle concept BEE (short for Balanced Economy and Ecology mobility concept). The BEE, with its perfectly developed flocking behavior, is part of an entire mobility family in the urban environment. Designed for one or two adults, it provides stress-free, comfortable and individual city travel in Continental’s future scenarios. The BEE reaches a speed of 60 km/h and is in use for more than 350 km every day. Later, it is intended to be part of a swarm of autonomous, electrically operated vehicles in different sizes and with different features for use in everyday life and in doing so, become a byword for maximum individuality. The BEE can be called to your location using an app. In Continental’s mobility concept, there are only a few minutes between ordering the BEE online and its arrival.

Electrification innovation stream

At the electrification lounge, Continental presents its innovations for the electromobility growth market. The new AllCharge charging technology for quick, wired charging and a complete charging system for convenient wireless charging. Continental is following a three-pronged approach to charging. For conductive (cable-based) charging, the technology company’s systems comprise both the established on-board charger for AC charging and the all-new AllCharge system, which also supports DC charging at fast-charging stations and therefore offers optimal flexibility. For maximum convenience, Continental also offers a further solution in the form of automatic inductive (wireless) charging. All our systems are designed so that they can be adapted to different regional requirements. And we see a market for all three charging technologies, based on customers’ different priorities in terms of efficiency, flexibility and convenience.

The 48-volt technology is also in focus. 48-V technology enables intelligent hybrid operating strategies that can be implemented in vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines. This Continental technology achieves proven fuel savings of around 21% in real-life urban traffic.

The electric EMR3 powertrain is also highly integrated and particularly lightweight for a variety of vehicle concepts. The complete powertrain module can be quickly and easily integrated into new electric vehicle models. It combines power electronics with an inverter, electric motor and transmission gearing in a single, compact, weight-optimized unit. Continental engineers were able to reduce the weight of the module at 150 kW to just 75 kg. Continental offers vehicle manufacturers its complete electrical final drive in one module in performance classes up to 320 kW. The market launch for the new e-drive will take place in China in 2019.

Electric vehicles have different requirements for their brake systems. Due to the intensive energy recuperation, the foundation brakes are used much less. Here, Continental presents a new, weight-reduced wheel and brake design called the New Wheel Concept. By using a corrosion-free, aluminum brake disc and matching brake, rust formation is prevented as well as the potential resulting deterioration of brake performance. Thanks to the lightweight material, the New Wheel Concept can reduce the weight of the wheel and the brake. Other advantages of the concept include simpler wheel and brake pad changes and no wear of the brake disk.

Connectivity innovation stream – the key to make mobility a great place to live

The third large topic at Continental’s TMS booth is connectivity. With Continental’s approach for holistic vehicle connectivity, the technology company is demonstrating solutions in all areas of a connected mobility. This starts already before entering a vehicle with the Key as a Service portfolio. Within this Continental is demonstrating solutions for all mobility needs, from embedded solutions for vehicle manufacturers to the Remote Cloud Key (RCK) and OTA-Keys which especially for vehicle fleets such as rental or car sharing companies. Once in the vehicle, Connected functions entail bigger displays in the vehicle. To enable drivers in the future to enjoy digital content without having to stare at a classic flat media display, Continental has developed a 3D display interface featuring optically bonded, topographical elements that restore a sense of quality and allow individuality to the classic display. In the background of the future cockpit Continental’s Integrated Interior Platform brings instrumentation and infotainment on one hardware and thus builds the basis for a service oriented and fully connected electronics architecture of the future.

Connectivity creates new business models for us. In addition to our product business, mobility services will become the next key pillar of Continental. With eHorizon, Continental presents how a vehicle provides important traffic information to the cloud and other road users. Numerous mobility services can be implemented on the basis of the resulting database.

Tire innovations for a safe journey

All these technologies make full use of their potential particularly when in perfect combination with the vehicle’s intelligent tires. With ContiSense and ContiAdapt, Continental will present a new tire technology concept from their pre-development department. The concept combines tires with sensors and other applications. This results in increased safety and more comfort – not only for the automated and autonomous vehicles of the future.

Along the show theme of “BEYOND THE MOTOR”, Continental confirms its leadership position in the automotive industry by showing its comprehensive solutions for mobility of the future. Continental is the pioneering partner for everyone who wants to make “mobility a great place to live” and in the excellent position to support Japanese car manufacturers for their field of activities, both in Japan and in global markets.

 

Robo-Taxi “CUbE”

 

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