Improved acoustics for electric vehicles with Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+

New industry trends such as electric mobility, autonomous driving and car sharing are raising the requirements on future vehicles. There is a growing demand for components designed to make vehicles significantly lighter, quieter and more fuel-efficient while enhancing driving comfort. Accordingly, Autoneum now supplements its portfolio of effective noise and heat protection components for electric vehicles with Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+.

With the projected global rise of electric mobility, new challenges for automobile manufacturers are emerging. Future vehicle generations are required to continuously improve their driving ranges, be more energy efficient and provide more driving comfort while maintaining fuel efficiency and generating fewer emissions. However, new types of drives do not just require the corresponding acoustic and thermal management in the vehicle; they also open innovative application areas for noise and heat protection components. For example, in the absence of engine noise in electric vehicles, more attention is drawn to sound sources that are new or were previously drowned out, such as fans and pumps or electronic drive components. Due to comparatively heavy batteries on board, electric vehicles simultaneously require a stronger weight reduction through the use of lightweight components.

Autoneum is now expanding its product portfolio for electric vehicles with Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ for carpet systems, inner dashes and floor insulators. This innovative technology is based on a novel fibrous material that acts as an insulator or absorber depending on its stiffness, thus ensuring optimum noise protection. Its respective acoustic insulation or absorption capacity can be defined as required by means of computer-controlled 3D simulations developed in-house. Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ parts are also very effective thermal insulators and shield the passenger cabin from cooling and heating, thereby reducing the energy needed for air conditioning. They are therefore predestined for use in electric vehicles whose batteries typically use 20 percent of charge for temperature regulation. Additionally, the stiffness of lightweight carpet systems, inner dashes and floor insulators made of Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ makes them easier to handle and mount into vehicles.

Interior floor components based on Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ are not only particularly environmentally friendly thanks to their high content of recycled cotton fibers. They are also up to 50 percent lighter than conventional mass-spring insulations. Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ thus makes an important contribution towards greater driving range for electric vehicles and less fuel consumption and emission output for vehicles with a combustion engine.

As the market and innovation leader for acoustic and thermal management in vehicles, Autoneum will for the first time be supplying inner dashes based on Hybrid-Acoustics ECO+ for a fully electric vehicle model produced by a European OEM as of early 2018. In Europe, the lightweight components are manufactured among others at Autoneum’s French plant in Ons-en-Bray.