Auto component supplier Continental are more commonly known in the country for providing high quality tires along with brake systems, power train and vehicle electric components.
They’re now looking to introduce a low-cost solution for mild hybrid systems in smaller vehicles at the bottom end of the price range. The system will be similar to other start stop setup (also known as mild hybrid for some reason) where the vehicle automatically stops when idle, and when the clutch is pushed the engine starts up again in a few fractions of a second.
Vehicles that have electronic units that use battery power will also be free from the scourge of voltage dips with the help of a DC/DC converter when engine is restarted. Along with that, infotainment and radio will still be able to operate normally during the whole process.
All that will be needed for this system is the start stop control unit, an intelligent battery sensor and a signal from the clutch and the gearbox. The system is simple and would be able to function even if the car doesn’t have complex ECU’s or electronics. Adding to that is the fact that there will be no need to modify the engine’s ECU or the gearbox controls to accommodate the Continental system.
As with many other start-stop systems, the fuel consumption could be reduced by up to 15 percent especially in urban areas and cities. Continental would like to see their system employed in countries such as India and China, where the governments in these respective countries are looking at ways of reducing new cars CO2 output and pollution in general.
Since Continental claims its system costs relatively lower, could we see it in Proton cars in the future? Continental is an existing supplier to Proton.
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this is nice to have .. will work well in the city like KL, Jakarta and Bangkok, if only they are available aftermarket…
wow….
nice…
later Conti can support Proton for the Start-Stop system.
If proton includes it then its great. Not holding breath though.
yeah.. proton should install these kind of goodies. As for now proton is known for being so kedekut on goodies. even airbag also very kedekut to install. they should learn from kia or naza. proton reputation is already not so good. to improve reputation, must give something extra la.. especially to fellow malaysians which proton usually marginalize.
Many years ago, reading a international magazine about the future of Proton; I think the author predicting is quite true, p will go no where if they only can capture small market share, only in Malaysia. The cost factor is ultimatum when they are not reaching the economy of scale. Worst still, the supply chain managment …like tikus says at below. So, do you expect p to give high quality or standard car with the xxx selling price? p only can survive under protective market. We have a lot of suppliers or company make good parts ( good plastic material ) in Malaysia for other brands, why not our “adopted” son aka proton get it ? All the sad stories…
One would not need an international magazine to know that, nearly the entire Malaysia population realized that a decade ago. I am pretty sure Proton’s CEO realized that as well, but with both hands tied at the back, he can only do so much. Seriously, being a cow farm manager and your new project is to make those cows fly with little or no cost…
Not just his hands tied at the back, mouth also kena tampal binding tape. And there are hundreds of “cow feed suppliers” supplying the same sub-standard cow feed that the cow farm manager has no choice but must buy at above market price from all suppliers. Suppliers get fat, cow almost dying.
Whatever low cost product will become Super high cost product when it reach proton.
question!
i am not really have knowledge about start-stop system. we malaysian depends a lot on air-conditioner when driving. fan and radio can work with just current standard car battery.. can aircon work with normal car battery?….
or to get aircon to work while the engine is off, do we need to have additional lithium or other battery used in hybrid car?
The aircond compressor requires high power supply, battery is insufficient for even a short period of time. The desginer of car will cut of your compressor once your engine shut down.
The first few implementations of auto start-stop causes the aircond to stop working but after that the air cond systems have been switched to run on electricity instead of engine crank. So modern start/stop cars like Civic Hybrid and Prius no longer have this problem.
We need help in ANY form in Malaysia to reduce fuel consumption.. this is a good after-market “remedy”..
btw, since this is a plug-in, i assume this will use existing starter motor to restart the engine.. as many of us experienced, starter motor is already one of the high wear and tear of a car.. so wouldnt this just expedite that process ?.
or am I missing something here.. can anyone “in the know” enlighten me please ?
thanks
ya,,it’s a good deal from continental..from this type of easy installed units we can save our fuel in order to save the environment..the system must also be available in malaysia…if proton can have this,,,they can go against their competiotors….a very good invention..think
well we do get a Mahindra Scorpio with a start stop system and it does cut off the AC when it stops at red lights
The problem with the start-stop system for a country like Malaysia or any hot countries is that once the engine stops, so does the compressor. The fan can still work as it runs on the batteries, but no more cool air at the traffic lights. If the traffic lights is red for less than a minute in the afternoon sun, it is still bearable. More than that you will start to feel stuffy. Probably at night this is more acceptable.
The starter motor needs to be upgraded since there is now more start ups compared to the normal condition. And yes, you can always switch it on/off and back to manual/normal mode where it will work like your usual start-stop condition.
If Conti give a good price for their plug in system, more car makers, not just Proton but also Perodua, Inokom, Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissan can put it in as a standard equipment.
The only way would be to introduce those engine cylinder management system. Whereby a 6 cylinder engine would be made to run on 3 at slow traffic and so on.
4 cylinders would be difficult, as a 2 cylinder stroke would not generate enough torque to stabilize the rotation of the crank shaft. So in the end, all rubbish talk.
Engine start stop won’t run the aircond, and I think there would be a mechanism that prevents the module to engage if the engine is still cold. Cold engine startups will generate the most CO2 as compared to a warmer/ at operating temperature.
Unless the manufacturer supplies cat. converters to the whole fleet. That also requires warmup time. So$$$$, we want our cars cheap, because of the freaking p1 protection and also taxes. So there is no way this will be implemented soon.
Correct me if I am wrong.
Cheers.
wow…
most of comments above are…
the most intellectual comments so far in this blog…
this is what blog and comment supposed to be… intellectual sharing…
In cities like Jakarta, Bangkok etc., your car would have started & stopped zillion times by the time you get to work.
You save on gas but end up having to replace the starter motor twice a year.