Hella, the automotive supplier operating under the Forvia umbrella brand, has recorded a new pedal-to-the-metal statistic. It has surpassed the 500 million electronic accelerator pedal sensors manufacturing milestone. The first accelerator pedal sensors from the company rolled off the assembly line more than 25 years ago.

With a market share of over 40%, Hella is the worldwide market leader and supplies numerous international automotive manufacturers from a global network with nine production sites. In the mid-2022, Hella also put an ASIL D fail-safe accelerator pedal into series production, which is representing the highest safety standards in the automotive industry.

Accelerator pedal sensors detect the position of the pedal and transmit the corresponding command to accelerate or reduce engine power to the engine control unit. "Our pedal sensors are an excellent example of the many electronic components of Hella that contribute to safe and comfortable mobility in our everyday lives," says Marco Döbrich, who is responsible for the product segment sensors at Hella. "The fact that we have earned our position as the global market leader in this field since we entered the market demonstrates our ability to bring sensors to the road in a cost-efficient way that are not only robust and highly precise. With a defect rate significantly below 1 part per million, they are also the industry benchmark in terms of quality and reliability.”

Hella was the first manufacturer in the world to have accelerator pedal sensors in series production that transmit the driver's command to the engine control unit via purely electronic signals without the aid of mechanical elements (by wire). The accelerator pedal sensors are designed to combine the accelerator pedal, pedal force generation and signal generation in a compact, modular unit. This allows the design and feel of the pedal to be adapted to individual customer requirements. The heart of the module is the self-developed wear-free sensor concept CIPOS (Contactless Inductive Position Sensor), which Hella has launched on the market for the first time.

At the same time, the company is working on new pedal concepts that realise a new interior design with optimised and flexible footwell areas. "Automated vehicles will have new requirements in terms of design and comfort," says Marco Dobrich. "The market for active safety technologies, which includes our pedal sensors, will therefore continue to grow. Our many years of experience and market leadership in the field enable us to supply our customers with high-performance, high-precision sensors and offer them customised solutions."