HANOVER, Germany: There were lots of driving fun and smoking tyres at the recent Continental TechShow 2019, held at the ADAC driving safety centre in Hanover, Germany.

The technology company highlighted many of its innovations under the tagline of “Mobility is the Heartbeat of Life.”

While Continental AG is renowned as among the largest global tyre manufacturers, the technology company is also a leading automotive supplier for tyre and brake technology, vehicle dynamic control, as well as electronic and sensor systems.


PreviewESC anticipatory automatic braking

With the PreviewESC braking function combined with eHorizon road data processing in the cloud, brakes can be automatically applied to adjust the vehicle speed if the car is traveling too quickly to safely negotiate an upcoming bend.

This is a predictive stability control system that warns the driver before a curve in the road if the vehicle is traveling too fast and automatically brakes, if necessary.

This works by using the cloud-based eHorizon system which processes the data collected from a vehicle fleet with the aid of artificial intelligence, to detect road objects and predict arising hazardous situations.

Thanks to matched sensors, data processing, and assistance systems, the car can anticipate what to expect from the bends and road surface conditions ahead.

Thus, road data is supplied by eHorizon, and PreviewESC compares this with the current vehicle speed to determine whether the vehicle is, for example, traveling too fast to make it safely around the next bend.

“PreviewESC provides support in situations in which the driver is approaching the bend too quickly, whether because it’s a blind bend, the driver is distracted, or he or she misjudged the road surface conditions,” said Jakov Sprljan, technical project manager for PreviewESC at Continental.

At the ADAC training centre, a powerful 2.0-litre turbocharged Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce saloon fitted with Q4 all-wheel drive and Continental PremiumContact 6 tyres sized 225/50 R17, successfully demonstrated the reliability of the automatic PreviewESC braking function on a water-filled track.



High power electronics for E-Mobility

Continental also showcased its new-generation power electronics which is crucial for delivering outstanding driving performance in electric cars.

When it comes to electric vehicles, the focus is mainly on the electric motor and battery.

However, there is another vitally important key component, namely the power electronics – a mini computer that manages the interaction between motor and battery or, in other words, the “brain” of the electric drive system.

This power electronics with a new kind of microchip technology enabling currents of up to 650 amps – a first in the automotive industry - is already in series production for the powerful all-electric crossover Jaguar I-Pace EV400.

The I-Pace has plenty of muscle with 400ps and 696Nm of torque, and a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery, and can travel up to 470km on a full charge.

“Over decades, Continental has built up electronic expertise into one of the company’s core competencies. This is now bearing fruit, because the overwhelming majority of mobility innovations are based on electronic components,” said Andreas Wolf, CEO of Continental’s powertrain business.

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