Continental to launch new EMS for small-capacity two-wheelers in India in 2020

German auto component major Continental, which recently announced its powertrain business to be operating under a new brand identity ‘Vitesco Technologies’, today unveiled an innovative engine management system (EMS) targeted specifically at the low-capacity two-wheeler segment in the Asian market.

Vitesco Technologies’ innovation product christened ‘Air Module Engine Control Unit’ was unveiled at the ongoing EICMA 2019 annual show in Milan and is meant for the latest generation of the single-cylinder gasoline engines with an engine displacement between 50cc and 250cc, generally powering scooters, stepthroughs, commuter- and performance-commuter bikes. The unit will see all the essential components for controlling the engine integrated into the throttle valve housing.

As direct injection increasingly becomes the norm in most Asian countries with tightening of emission standards, the company says that it has tailor-made these products to suit the needs of the key two-wheeler markets in this region. India, for instance, saw cumulative sales of two-wheelers touching 21,181,390 units in FY2019, marking a 5 percent year-on-year growth. Of this, the up to 250cc displacement segment contributed majorly with 19,464,854 units going home to buyers within the large landscape of the country.

Vitesco to answer the BS VI call
The Vitesco portfolio will now include two new products – M4L engine control system, as well as the M4A and the M4B. While the M4L has already been launched in China, the onset of the BS VI mission norms in India from April 2020 and with fuel-injection becoming the solitary route for all two-wheeler OEMs to meet the stringent CO2 and NOx targets, will see the company launching the M4A and M4B engine control systems in the country in 2020.

Vitesco Technologies claims that the systems are extremely compact and robust, and set standards in terms of price-to-performance ratio, with their microprocessor bringing the potential for new functionalities on-board. 

Enhanced consumer usability
With digitalisation, connectivity and telematics being the new frontiers of luring customers into modern-day automotive products by OEMs across all formats of vehicles, Vitesco says it has made its M4L compatible with Bluetooth, which would, with the help of a smartphone app, allow the driver to display the average speed and average fuel consumption of the vehicle by hooking on to the OBD data. It would also allow reading out of the various diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) registered during the vehicle’s operation.

While features such as keyless-go and key-sharing have been made available in the new M4L BLE version, the M4 versions can provide even more advanced capacities. For example, the M4A can be integrated into the CAN communication, and the functional flagship M4B can use an additional sensor to detect when the motorcycle falls to its side and cut-off the fuel supply.

The company has confirmed that alongside developing these new technologies, it is also greatly expanding production capacities for these systems in China, India and Thailand.