Faurecia and Mahle to co-develop interior thermal management tech

Global automotive supplier Faurecia and Mahle, will collaborate for developing innovative interior thermal management technologies for future mobility solutions.

As per the collaboration Faurecia will contribute its expertise as a full interior system integrator, while Mahle will add its holistic thermal expertise for passenger comfort and energy efficiency.

The potential fields identified by them include addressing topics such as air distribution, air conditioning integration solutions for electric vehicles and the mutual development of personalised thermal management for the cockpit of the future.

Commenting on the collaboration, Patrick Koller, CEO, Faurecia said, “This partnership will mark another important step for Faurecia in the development of an innovation ecosystem for the Cockpit of the Future. It follows on from the partnership with ZF announced earlier this year for advanced safety solutions. The industry is undergoing a major transformation and such alliances will allow us to rapidly bring to market new solutions.” 

Speaking on the development, Wolf-Henning Scheider,CEO and chairman, MAHLE Management Board said,  “Thermal management is one of the significant enablers of future mobility concepts. Our thermoelectric technologies will enable completely new solutions for interior thermal comfort. Within new e-Mobility vehicles the efficiency of air conditioning systems and new packaging solutions will play an important role to enable higher driving ranges and new opportunities for the arrangement within the cabin interior.”

As new technologies are being developed that change the way traditional mobility systems were incorporated in the vehicle. New occupant positions in the autonomous car and additional comfort features are being added into the interior and innovative thermal management solutions will be required to ensure occupant comfort in all positions.

This is in addition to the rapid increase in the number of full electric vehicle platforms that require development of smart cabin thermal management solutions with optimised energy consumption and packaging.