With the overall automotive market at best stagnant in recent years and in complete free fall in the past year, one way for suppliers to expand their revenues is to get into new product areas. Thus Continental, long known for tires, brake systems, fuel systems and more is getting into turbochargers. Over the next several years, turbos are expected to be a major growth area as automakers move to smaller displacement engines in pursuit of reduced fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.

Currently, the turbo market is dominated by Borg Warner and Honeywell, but Continental has just earned its first production contract for its new design. Starting in 2011, a European-branded vehicle will be the first to be equipped with a Continental turbo. Unlike other turbos, Continental's unit has been developed to allow fully automated assembly, thus reducing the cost. Conti's new turbos will be built at a plant in Trutnov, Czech Republic. The Continental press release is after the jump.

[Source: Continental]

The European Union is set to make tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) mandatory in 2012. This measure is intended to not only improve vehicle safety, but also to reduce CO₂ emissions. Only correctly inflated tires run with the intended low rolling resistance and hence deliver maximum fuel efficiency - tire manufacturer Continental states says CO₂ emissions can drop by 45 percent with correct inflation. Consider this: one out of three cars in Germany are driven with underinflated tires and studies show that car running costs in Europe alone could be reduced by 3.4 billion euros a year if all tires were kept at optimum pressure (although a British study found that to be exaggerated). Although the EU is considering systems that would inform the driver when pressure dropw below 25 percent, Continental believes that this limit should be set at 10 percent, because some drivers would drive around on underinflated tires simply because manual tire checks would be regarded as inconvenient and they will wait for the alarm warning.

[Source: Continental]

When the curtain rises on the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Bentley will take a large share of the spotlight with the vehicle you see above. It has no name yet, and no technical specifics have been released, but what Bentley has revealed is that this will be the marque's fastest, most powerful production car yet, and that it'll run on biofuel. Visually, the grilles all have a blackout treatment, and sizable vertical intakes occupy the front bumper's outer edges. The hood also sports a pair of vents, presumably to help extract engine heat.

Given that the 600-horsepower/553-lb-ft Continental GT Speed currently owns the "most powerful production Bentley" title, look for more extreme ratings on this new, obviously Continental-based monster. As for the biofuel half of the equation, we expect to see an ethanol-drinking version of the twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder that propels the rest of the Continental range. In any case, a new Bentley's coming, and it's fixin' to open up a plus-sized can of whoop-ass. We'll learn more closer to the Geneva festivities.

[Source: Bentley]

A great deal of electricity is already provided by the movement of water in hydroelectric power plants. Usually, large turbines are placed just after dams or under waterfalls that spin as the water rushes past at high speed. There are other ways to generate power from the movement of water, though, and automotive supplier Continental is providing its expertise towards that goal. The supplier's ContiTech subsidiary is drawing on Continental's vast experience with rubber for the project, which places large buoys in the water. Inside the massive tube is a hose pump that moves up and down along with the waves. At the end of the pump lies a turbine that is powered by the compressed seawater. Cables keep the buoys in their desired location and transmit the electrical power back to the shore.

Small-scale testing of the system has proven that the buoys are capable of providing a substantial amount of power while also being able to survive the violent storms of the oceans. ContiTech believes that its wave power could provide up to a third of all the energy needs of the world. Good thing, since we're all going to need plenty of electricity to power our future electric cars, right?

[Source: Continental]

Another of Lotus Engineering's research projects into more efficient motoring has been recognized. This time around, Project HOTFIRE received an accolade from The Engineer Technology + Innovation Awards 2008. HOTFIRE was a joint effort with Continental, University College London (UCL) and Loughborough University to develop a gasoline direct injection engine that reduces fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions by 15 percent. The project analyzed the combustion and consumption properties of similar engines with port and direct cylinder injection mechanisms. Lotus built a pair of single cylinder engines, one of which had a transparent silica cylinder liner allowing the in-cylinder combustion to be observed. Besides the fuel delivery, a variable valve timing system was used to measure the effects of early intake valve closing on consumption and emissions. Eventually a full engine was built and installed in an Opel Astra demonstrator to evaluate real world performance. The Lotus press release is after the jump.

[Source: Lotus]

A week after Mercedes-Benz announced details of its first hybrid, battery supplier Continental Automotive has launched production of the battery packs. Mercedes will be the first manufacturer to mass produce a hybrid vehicles with lithium ion batteries. Continental spent €3 million to build the battery manufacturing facility in Nuremberg. The first batteries that being produced weigh 55 lbs and have a volume of just under 0.5 cu. ft. When the Mercedes S400 BlueHybrid launches in mid-2009 with this 120V battery pack it will be installed in the engine compartment in place of the standard 12V lead acid battery.

Since this is the first mass market automotive application of a lithium battery, Mercedes and Continental are being extra careful. The battery is designed to last a minimum of 10 years and 100,000-150,000 miles so Continental has developed a sophisticated monitoring system to make sure that it operates within normal operating parameters. Each individual cell is monitored to keeps loads balanced and ensure even charging and discharging. Continental had to develop special processes to weld the copper bus bars that act as cell interconnects. The whole battery is enclosed inside of a laser-welded stainless steel case. The initial production capacity of the factory is 15,000 units a year and that can easily be doubled.

[Source: Continental]

At a preview of GM's 2009 model year lineup yesterday in Jolliet IL, Bob Lutz revealed that the production supplier for the Chevy Volt battery has been selected. Unfortunately, the GM Vice Chairman would not say which of the development suppliers had been selected. Two partnerships have been supplying prototype batteries to GM for the E-Flex program since late in 2007. LG Chem and its U.S. subsidiary Compact Power Inc have long been considered to be the leaders in the race to supply the most critical component of the Volt.

Continental and A123 have also been providing batteries but they ran behind CPI in initial pack deliveries. Lutz reiterated that a test fleet of production-intent Volts would be on the road being field tested by late 2009 ahead of a November 2010 retail launch.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Video game players are used to force feedback controllers that provide a haptic response to user inputs. German automotive supplier Continental is now introducing an accelerator pedal that provides similar feedback to drivers in cars. The Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal (AFFP) is being initially branded as a safety device with interfaces to stability control and adaptive cruise control systems. The idea is when other active safety systems in the vehicle detect a hazardous situation where the drive should slow down, the pedal vibrates or buzzes to provide a signal to the driver to back off. The system can also be used monitor the driver's acceleration behavior and provide warnings if they are accelerating too hard or too often. Much like the efficiency gauges now being installed in many new cars, the active pedal can help the driver learn the most efficient driving techniques. An electric motor on the underside of the pedal pushes the pedal back against the driver's foot, but the driver can still push through if they decide they really need to accelerate.

[Source: Continental Automotive]

Continental, like its arch rival Bosch, is striving to stay relevant in a changing automotive landscape by expanding into new technology areas for hybrid and electric drive vehicles. One technology both companies are pursuing aggressively is lithium ion batteries. Continental will be supplying packs for Mercedes Benz mild hybrid vehicles beginning in 2009. Continental is also one of the development suppliers for the Chevrolet Volt program. So far Continental has partnered with cell suppliers like A123 Systems and Johnson Controls-Saft while focusing pack integration. But like Bosch, Continental wants to start manufacturing cells as well, either by doing it in-house or buying another supplier like A123. The German supplier has already purchased a stake in Enax, but that company only has capacity for small series production. At the moment lithium ion technology is changing so fast that Continental is keeping its options open but Karl-Thomas Neumann, head of powertrain and chassis operations told Reuters that at some stage the company would likely settle on a single partner or acquisition.

[Source: The Guardian]

German automotive supplier Continental AG commissioned a study of drivers in China, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Austria, Switzerland and the U.S. earlier this year to evaluate their views on more environmentally friendly cars. Nearly half of all the surveyed drivers reported that they have adjusted their driving habits in response to the rapid increase in fuel prices in the past year. Almost 63 percent of Japanese and 55 percent of German drivers have changed while only 42.8 percent of Americans have adjusted. The survey was conducted early this year and if the question was asked again today the numbers would probably be higher, especially in the U.S. where prices have risen by more than 30 percent since the start of the year.

Not surprisingly the increase in fuel prices has increased interest in alternative drivetrains such as hybrids and pure electric systems. Thirty-six percent of drivers are interested in and likely to buy a hybrid vehicles. One fifth of all drivers were aware of hybrid drives with one third of Austrian and French drivers knowing about them. Electric cars came in second in alternative recognition at 16.8 percent. More than 58 percent of international drivers also correctly assumed that hybrids cost more to buy although they also expect operating cost savings to offset the extra purchase price. As has been shown in other studies two thirds of drivers reported driving shorter routes that would be good applications for hybrid and electric cars. As a supplier interested in providing more components for hybrid and electric vehicles such as motors, electronics and batteries, the study is good news for Continental.

[Source: The Auto Channel]