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Vol. 27, No. 7 u hansenreport.com u September 2014 Uconnect Goes Ultracapacitors Still Showing Promise More Applications Coming another promising application, as is brake Global Ultracapacitors can do things that bat- recuperation, because ultracapacitors can teries can’t: They can provide an instanta- quickly take big gulps of power. neous power boost, and they can be In 2010, Maxwell Technologies began “We are global,” said Alan Amici, head charged and discharged millions of times, shipping its ultracapacitors to Continental of Global Uconnect at Fiat Chrysler. making them a perfect complement to bat- on behalf of a voltage-stabilization system “Uconnect systems are in nearly all Fiat teries. Batteries provide significantly greater that supports start-stop functionality in Chrysler cars. There are still some Fiats energy density and are best at providing PSA Peugeot-Citroën vehicles. When the that are migrating from legacy Blue&Me power over a longer period, but over time voltage from the lead acid battery falls too systems, but they are all moving to Ucon- the charge and discharge process degrades low, two ultracapacitors, connected in nect.” The Uconnect brand, praised by their ability to store energy. series, temporarily add five volts to the neg- Consumer Reports for its ease of use, will cov- Ultracapacitors are well suited to power- ative side of the battery to power engine er all the carmaker’s audio, navigation and ing start-stop applications, especially when starts and maintain sufficient bus voltage. telematics offerings, from the basic radio, fast restarts (in 300 milliseconds or less) are As of May 2014, Continental had pro- with no touch screen, to the 5-, 6.5- and required, and for maintaining the vehicle’s duced one million voltage-stabilization 8.4-inch touch screen systems. supply voltage, as frequent restarts can systems. The Blue&Me handsfree phone and drain the battery. Electric turbochargers, Since 2010, only one other ultracapaci- navigation platform is based on Microsoft which require frequent power bursts, are tor application has come to light. In software. While Microsoft Windows Em- August 2012, production began in Japan and Europe for the Mazda6 (non-hybrid) bedded Automotive software now under- With an extremely high surface area of activat- pins the Uconnect 5-inch touch screen ed carbon, ultracapacitors have orders of magni- wagon, which featured Mazda’s i-ELOOP product line introduced in May 2013, it tude more capacitance (up to 3,000 farads per (intelligent energy loop) regenerative brak- appears that Microsoft won’t be part of 2.7-volt cell) and orders of magnitude more ener- ing system. The system includes a 12-25 future Uconnect products. gy density than conventional capacitors. Ultraca- volt, variable-voltage alternator connected “We are looking at the operating system pacitors, which store energy electrostatically, to an electric double-layer capacitor (ultra- trends in the market,” Mr. Amici said. “We have very low internal resistance ranging from capacitor) module. A DC to DC converter 8 milliohms to as low as 0.3 milliohms for the have a close relationship with QNX, our 3,000-farad ultracapacitor offered by Nippon steps the alternator’s output from 25 volts biggest operating system provider right Chemi-Con. to 12 volts for distribution to the vehicle now. We also have a relationship with electrical system. i-ELOOP converts the Google and we joined its Open Automo- Benefits vehicle’s kinetic energy into electricity as tive Alliance.” Future Uconnect products High power density: While their energy density the vehicle decelerates. might have more than one OS. is only a fraction of what a battery can The Mazda6 with i-ELOOP, available in provide, the power density of ultracapacitors is the U.S. since May 2013, is rated for 40 Continental produces the basic radio many times greater. and the 5-inch product line. Harman sup- Temperature range: With an operating range of mpg on the highway. i-ELOOP is also avail- plies the 6.5- and 8.4-inch lines, which are minus 40C to plus 65C, says Maxwell Technolo- able on the Mazda3. The double-layer based on the QNX operating system. gies, ultracapacitors are better suited to the en- capacitors are made by the Japanese com- Given the likelihood that Android Au- gine compartment than lithium-ion batteries and pany Nippon Chemi-Con. tomotive software could be running native- better for cold engine starting than batteries. High cycling: Ultracaps can withstand more High Costs ly on some head units, I asked Mr. Amici if than one million charge-discharge cycles. investors in suppliers such as Harman Fast charge and discharge: As little as a frac- Historically, high costs have limited should be worried that Google or Apple tion of a second for charging or discharging. ultracapacitors’ use in automotive applica- will wrest market share away from them. High charge-discharge efficiency: More than tions, but costs are headed downward. “I wouldn’t count the tier-ones out,” he 95%, with a power density of 1kW/kg, according According to Maxwell senior product man- said. “We have some really good tier-ones to Nippon Chemi-Con. Uncompromised by the ager Jens Keiser, carmakers have targeted a depth of discharge. with many years of experience integrating cost of a half-cent per farad. “We are start- Environmentally friendly: Unlike batteries, their infotainment products with the vehi- ultracapacitors have no heavy metals. ing to get there in high volume with our cle electrical systems and providing high Long lifespan: Ultracaps provide 15 years or cells,” he said. Maxwell offers 2.7-volt cells performance audio systems.” Alpine, Mit- more of maintenance-free operation in automo- in 3,000-farad, 1,500-farad and 1,200-farad subishi Electric and Panasonic are also tive applications. versions. At 2.7 volts per cell, a module u Volumetric density: higher than batteries Fiat Chrysler infotainment suppliers. Turn to Ultracapacitors, page 8 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, www.hansenreport.com Page 1, September 2014 More Connectivity and ADAS Features for 2015 Enormous economic, technical and Lane-departure warning systems have in 2012. Forward collision warning is legal hurdles remain before fully autono- been around since the 1990s on commer- offered as an option on nearly 40% of mous driving from point A to B is ready for cial trucks and for more than a decade on 2014 models. mass production, but considerable passenger cars. Nissan and Toyota had lane Mercedes, soon to be followed by Volvo, advances have been made since Google keeping assist systems that nudged the is the first carmaker to offer nearly autono- first announced it was working on self-driv- steering wheel on the road in Japan in the mous driving. Mercedes’ Distronic Plus ing cars in 2010. While the industry, and early 2000s. Because they rely on cameras with Steering Assist, introduced on the to some extent government regulators, have to track lane markings, they have been 2014 S class as part of a suite of features a clear vision of the safety and fuel-saving most effective on well-marked, snow-free called Intelligent Drive, requires the driver benefits to be gained by automating more highways in daylight hours when the to remain engaged, with hands on the driving functions, those automated systems weather is clear. A 2014 study by the mar- wheel. But the system is capable of full lon- must perform flawlessly to convince con- ket research firm AutoPacific found grow- gitudinal and lateral control at low speeds. sumers the expensive options are both ing consumer interest in lane-keeping In the U.S., the take rate for the Driver dependable and worth the money. The J.D. systems: interest among the 92,000 respon- Assistance Package, which includes all Power 2014 U.S. Automotive Emerging Tech- dents increased by 26 percentage points Intelligent Drive features, is 85% on the nologies Study found that only 24% of compared with interest in 2013. That may S550/S550 4MATIC models and 90% on respondents were interested in an autono- be due to better, cheaper cameras and the S63V4. mous driving mode in their next vehicle if smarter image processing algorithms According to Volvo, its new XC90 SUV the price was $3,000. In 2013, the interest improving the performance, or simply due at the end of the year is the first car in in autonomous driving was 21%, and J.D. greater consumer awareness as penetration the world with automatic braking if its Power analysts say the small increase is a increases. Volvo says its cars can recognize driver turns in front of an oncoming car. result of growing consumer exposure to the edge of the roadway without any Volvo’s City Safety automatic braking fea- advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) markings. ture is standard across all models. features. Low-priced, high-performance cameras Usually paired with blind-spot detection ADAS features such as adaptive cruise have also enabled a sharp increase in the systems, radar-based rear cross traffic alert control in stop-and-go traffic, autonomous availability of forward-looking collision systems, which assist when a driver backs emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping warning and mitigation systems as well as out of a parking space in situations where assist, automatic parking, and speed-limit pedestrian detection in moderately priced side vision is limited, are now widely avail- and traffic-sign recognition are becoming vehicles. Collision avoidance systems with able from many carmakers including more widely available in new vehicles, automatic braking are on the rise since Volvo, Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, General including some non-luxury vehicles, but are automatic emergency braking (AEB) is now Motors, Mazda, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes, still only operating in one to three percent required for a five-star Euro NCAP rating.