VITESCO – Leading Global Supplier Of Advanced Powertrain Technologies
Vitesco Technologies, headquartered in Regensburg, Germany is a leading global supplier of advanced powertrain technologies for the automotive industry. After going public as a drive system technology spin-off from Continental in 2021, Vitesco Technologies has today established itself as an independent MDAX player on the market. The company is taking on a leading role among automotive suppliers in the shift toward electric mobility, offering powertrain solutions that deliver greater efficiency, higher performance, and cleaner mobility.
The company’s portfolio ranges from electric drive components and systems, to sensors, actuators, and complete electric drives. “We are thus already present in over five million electric vehicles and will participate strongly in the market growth,” says Anurag Garg, Country Head & Managing Director of Vitesco Technologies.
The Indian arm
In the year 2022, the company inaugurated its all-new facility in Talegaon, Pune, by the name Vitesco Technologies India which is spread across 20 acres accommodating over 1,200 employees. At this facility the company concentrates on the growing demand for highly efficient, emission technologies for electrified engines. The facility is operating at a carbon-neutral level and has fully established itself as a driver of sustainability. The plant is equipped with a new photovoltaic system that produces 3 GWh of solar energy. The company plans to increase the installed capacity from the current 2.6 MW to 3.6 MW by the end of the year. The factory is also actively exploring automation, digitalization, and Industry 4.0 with more than 25 cobots and robots placed on the production lines and shop floor.
Product expertise and transformative technologies
Vitesco Technologies recently showcased its innovative electrification solutions for a range of segments in the 2-wheeler market for the first time, demonstrating its 48-volt system for electric light motorcycles and scooters with 3 to 7 kW output (equivalent up to 150 cc for combustion engines) in India. The company also demonstrated its latest generation electric axle drive platform (EMR4 – Electronics Motor Reducer 4th Generation), which provides an option for eliminating permanent magnets and a reliance on rare earth metallic elements with a redesigned rotor using a sophisticated winding technique.
Their tried-and-tested combustion engine electronics, sensors and actuators are being repurposed for battery and hydrogen-based electric mobility. One example of this is the air mass sensor, which the company has now developed into a pioneering H2 leak sensor that detects tiny hydrogen concentrations in the system. Similarly, an air control valve originally developed for engine intake tracts now controls the air supply to the cathode side of a fuel cell.
Also under the Powertrain Solutions umbrella, Vitesco Technologies is establishing distribution channels in the independent aftermarket to supply customers with original spare parts. The company has, for instance, launched a cooperation with a specialist for commercial vehicle parts with a presence in seven European countries. This parts supplier is initially marketing NOX sensors in OEM quality for around 300 vehicle models. In the long term, Vitesco Technologies intends to offer spare parts and services for electrically powered cars and commercial vehicles from a single source. The cooperation with the commercial vehicle parts specialist complements the existing distribution of original spare parts via Continental.
Vitesco Technologies has consolidated its solutions for electric driving in its Electrification Solutions business unit. The portfolio includes 48-volt electrification solutions, electric drives, battery management systems, thermal management modules and a wide range of power and onboard electronics.
Intelligent Integration
The now fourth generation of the fully integrated electric axle drive from Vitesco Technologies is currently also available with an externally excited synchronous machine (EESM) as an option. The advantage: the new rotor features no permanent magnets and therefore requires no rare earths. This reduces the cost of the rotor while also eliminating the carbon footprint resulting from the extraction and processing of the ores.
Battery management systems (BMS) from Vitesco Technologies are equally innovative and in high demand on the market. BMSs consist of control units, sensors and application software. They manage the energy balance, protect the battery from overheating, ensure a balanced state of charge for all cells and thereby contribute to greater safety, efficiency and longer battery life. A highlight in this context is that Vitesco Technologies will already be delivering the corresponding battery control units for 400 and 800-volt electric vehicle architectures in a version that supports wireless communication. This significantly reduces wiring & frees up space that either allows room for greater battery capacity or permits a more compact battery system with lower weight.
Another example of intelligent integration is the high-voltage box for electric vehicles. The R & D team at Vitesco has developed it according to the principle of largely integrating the closely related tasks of distribution, conversion and storage of electrical energy in terms of space and particularly of functionality. The high-voltage box operates as a substation and controls, for example, the AC charging process from the AC network, the DC fast-charging function, the high-voltage distribution in the vehicle electrical system and the supply of energy to the 12-volt vehicle electrical system. The high-voltage box offers flexible voltage levels of up to 800 volts for charging and driving purposes.
End-to-end sustainability
The topic of sustainability is firmly anchored in the strategy at Vitesco Technologies. More than 30 specialists in the company are now working on end-to-end sustainable product development, for example with the aid of lifecycle analyses, design optimization, recycling, reuse and remanufacturing. Moreover, the company has joined initiatives such as Gaia X and Catena X and is active in blockchain technologies. At the project level, the company has since 2021 been a partner in the Polestar 0 project, which aims to create a fully carbon-neutral passenger car.
Focusing on the future
“At Vitesco Technologies, our clear focus is on battery electric vehicles and developing the necessary technology to support its growth. We aim to successfully execute projects in this changing environment to reach the optimum level of customer satisfaction. Vitesco Technologies is also focusing on new innovations in powertrain systems, with its existing expertise in stand-alone components to intelligent operating strategies and full turn-key systems,” reveals Andreas Wolf.