Start of the Electric Era: New VW ID.3 E-model Equipped with Continental Technologies
- Continental launches world’s first mass-produced high-performance server for cars, complete with software
- High-performance computer connects electronics architecture in ID.3 e-model and enables over-the-air updates in the future
- Drum brakes with electromechanical parking brake function: smart solution for ID.3
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., October 8, 2020. Volkswagen is set to enter a new era in electric mobility with the launch of the ID.3, with support from Continental. The technology company supplies key components that make the new compact electric model into a safer, digital and long-range representative of its class. The high-performance computer (HPC), in particular, is an essential feature of interconnected vehicles like the ID.3. Continental is the first supplier worldwide to offer such a high-performance vehicle server together with the corresponding software on a mass scale, paving the way for the future of vehicle connectivity. The powerful computer controls and safeguards the wireless exchange of data and, in the future, will support secure over-the-air updates of the software. Additionally, the HPC represents a key technology within Volkswagen’s new modular electric drive system. The VW ID.4, the electric SUV that is currently available for consumers to reserve in the U.S., will also be equipped with the new HPC from Continental.
The innovative concept of the in-car application server (ICAS1) enables a high level of vehicle connectivity. Thanks to the separation of hardware and software, the server can integrate and update both Volkswagen applications and third-party software.
The technology company also supplies additional components that have been specially tailored to electric vehicles such as the ID.3. These include a newly developed drum brake, thermal management hoses as well as summer, winter and all-season tires featuring ContiSeal technology.
Flexible air conditioning pipes are part of sophisticated thermal management and increase the durability and range of electric batteries.
Server concept decisive for future success of electric mobility
The crucial factor is above all the HPC, which is used as a server in the vehicle and operates as a smart interface to the digital world. The computer is the centerpiece of the new electronics architecture of the ID.3 – and of the future electric vehicle fleet from Volkswagen. The new server solution combines countless electronic functions in the car in a central location. This means that a single control unit is deployed where previously several dozen modules were required to assume the increasing number of digital functions in a modern car.
The current “Continental Mobility Study 2020” shows that in many of the major automotive markets around the world, more and more people are considering buying an electric vehicle. Manufacturers, like Volkswagen, are responding to this. For Continental, the fact that it has developed a core component of the Volkswagen Group’s modular electric drive system with the new HPC is of prime importance. In recent months, further contracts for high-performance computers with a total volume of approximately $4.7 (€4 billion) have been won.
The drum brake EPB-Si is a closed, sealed system and therefore less prone to corrosion. With a lifetime service interval of up to 150,000 kilometers, the drum brake is an optimal solution for electric vehicles.
“With the new high-performance computer, Continental is the first supplier to equip electric vehicles with a high-performance server on a mass scale. This once again underscores our competencies in the field of vehicle connectivity. And, above all, this high-tech solution has impressed our customers, as the pleasing number of new contracts shows,” said Helmut Matschi, Executive Board member and head of the Vehicle Networking and Information business area at Continental. “Jointly with VW and our partners, we have launched a pioneering innovation within the entire mobility sector.”
Thanks to the HPC, in the future it will be possible to install new software functions and security updates via a wireless connection in the vehicle.
New VW ID.3 model drives safely, far and fully connected with technologies from Continental
© Volkswagen AG
Continental is among the most experienced technology companies in the field of electric mobility today. For more than 20 years, it has developed key components for hybrid and electric vehicles of numerous major manufacturers. In the innovation areas of software and digitalization, Continental has assumed a leading role. This trend continues this year as Continental introduced the most powerful computer system within the automotive industry in order to advance the development of groundbreaking future technologies for assisted, automated and autonomous driving. It will, after all, be primarily customized software solutions – from range optimization through to AI-based driving programs for autonomously operated automobiles – that contribute to the success of new, safer and more environmentally friendly mobility solutions. Continental is ideally equipped to meet these tasks.
Please click here for a more detailed press release with additional technical information about the electric car ID.3 and Continental's technologies.
Mary Arraf
Head of Communications Automotive and Continental North America