How Lubricants Are Enhancing In-Cabin Comfort & Connectivity in Electric Vehicles
Electric vehicle use may be on the rise, but adoption rates are still not on par with those in Europe and Asia, leaving many automakers falling short of their sales targets. Gone are the days where consumers had only a handful of electric vehicle options. With more electric vehicles hitting the market than ever before, it is important for OEMs to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Along with increasing battery range and addressing infrastructure issues, enhancing cabin comfort is one effective way for OEMs to differentiate their brand in this competitive EV landscape. Designing a more comfortable interior doesn’t always require significant design changes. Using an optimized lubricant can improve existing designs by reducing NVH, enhancing haptics, and improving connection reliability.
Reduce Noise, Vibration, and Harshness
With the absence of an internal combustion engine, other noises within an electric vehicle’s interior become magnified. Sounds that used to be muffled might now alarm drivers even if they prove to be innocuous. This can have a direct effect on the way consumers perceive the quality of your brand. Tolerances of mating parts that are too large, or components that rub and slide against one another due to road vibration can generate friction that is transmitted to the driver as noise. Utilizing an appropriate grease designed for the interior of a vehicle, and the sub-components involved, will reduce surface friction to eliminate noise, vibration, and harshness. Additionally, it is important that materials used for vehicle interior components are free from undesirable odor and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to improve driver health and comfort. FUCHS’ interior lubrication solutions are virtually odorless and do not emit harmful VOCs.
Enhance the Haptic Experience
Sticky handles, jerky seat tracks, and difficult to open compartments may not seem important, but they may be that unidentifiable deciding factor that has buyers saying, “This one just doesn’t feel right.” The same friction that generates noise may also be felt by drivers as a distracting vibration. Anywhere that users are confronted with unwanted resistance or vibration is an area for improvement.
Lubricants not only reduce frictional vibration but those with specific viscosities can also help engineers control the precise speed, motion, and torque of their application to fine-tune the haptic experience. As a lubricant’s viscosity increases, the amount of force required to move that component through a lubricant also increases. For applications requiring less resistance, a lower viscosity lubricant should be selected. Shear and temperature stable lubricants from FUCHS’ damping grease line ensure that the desired motion is achieved across wide temperatures and after repeated use.
Improving the Reliability of Electronic Systems
With the rise of electric and autonomous vehicles, drivers are making fewer decisions for themselves and relying on the vehicle’s sophisticated electronic systems to ensure safe operating conditions. Advanced driver assistance technology like lane and parking support and automatic high beams poses increased challenges to the vehicle's electronics. With more time available to the driver, they expect more from their infotainment systems. These technologies require wireless communication, touch interfaces, and internet and cloud connectivity. The common denominator for all these emerging technologies will be how they communicate, function, and receive power. The electrical connectors that provide the interface between all these technologies will continue to have the same traditional problems that all connectors experience – fretting, corrosion, intrusions from the environment like water, dust, and other particulates. Intermittencies from damaged or malfunctioning electrical connections could result in unsafe driving conditions. Connector lubricants help protect against these common causes of electrical failures to improve overall vehicle safety and reliability.
FUCHS plays a significant role in providing sustainable, optimized lubrication solutions that support OEM performance requirements for in-cabin applications.
