Skip to main content

Continental enhances EV safety

Continental, the international automotive supplier, has developed a system for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles which will immediately shut off the high-voltage battery in the event of a collision, enabling emergency service personnel to come to the aid of accident victims without the risk of suffering an electric shock.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS260 Continental, the international automotive supplier, has developed a system for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles which will immediately shut off the high-voltage battery in the event of a collision, enabling emergency service personnel to come to the aid of accident victims without the risk of suffering an electric shock.

Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are powered by high-voltage batteries of up to 400 volts. evSAT will go into series production with a major German vehicle manufacturer in 2012.

"The evSAT acceleration sensor is active in charge mode. It detects an accident and passes this information on to the battery management system which then shuts off the high-voltage battery," said Dr. Axel Gesell, senior manager, Platform Development Sensors & Satellites, in the Passive Safety and ADAS business unit of Continental's Chassis & Safety Division. "The major benefit of our product is that it prevents fire and rescue service personnel sustaining high-voltage injuries when coming into contact with vehicle metal parts or if they have to cut through the vehicle to recover accident victims," Gesell added.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Funding for EV battery recycling research
    April 18, 2012
    Axeon has announced it is one of six British companies to receive funding from the UK's Technology Strategy Board for feasibility studies into the recycling and re-use of batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles. As well as researching the recycling process, the project will look at how to determine end-of-life, which is still a major issue with automotive batteries for both manufacturers and consumers.
  • Continental and IBM collaborate on connected vehicles
    September 11, 2013
    Continental and IBM are to collaborate on the joint development of fully-connected mobile vehicle solutions for the world’s car manufacturers. Central to the agreement is development of a highly scalable cloud platform that will enable automotive manufacturers to deliver a range of new mobile in-car services. Software updates and vehicle control device functionality will be delivered over the internet, removing costly and inconvenient workshop visits. The companies feel the solution may equally prove be
  • Sales of microelectric vehicles will be boosted by 85 per cent by 2013
    May 29, 2012
    Greener agendas, emission-based taxation, parking charge exemptions, and mass-produced electric vehicles are all working together to increase the sales of microelectric vehicles to 0’118,000 units by 2017 within the North American market new analysis from Frost & Sullivan predicts. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.30 per cent between 2010 and 2017. By 2013, the total count of microelectric vehicles in North America is likely to increase to 150 types, with the introduction of 34 new
  • Four predictions for the automotive and transportation industry
    May 30, 2012
    Frost & Sullivan has released the results from its customer survey with several hundred companies conducted in December 2011, executed to find out the top predictions for 2012 for the global automotive and transportation market. Market growth in all regions except Europe, accelerated introduction of plug in hybrid and battery electric vehicles due to increasing fuel prices, mobility and integrated transportation as well as the integration of the smart phone with dedicated application stores and innovative H