Continental, along with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar, was the winner of the Automotive Interiors Expo Awards 2014. The event held in Stuttgart was to honour the world’s finest designers, innovations and products, championing all aspects of automotive interior excellence and innovation.
Continental’s ‘Simplify Your Drive’ system picked up the final award for Concept Interior Innovation of the Year. This new system allows electric cars to learn how to calculate a driving range before the start of a journey.
The interior-based Conti technology uses anticipatory range calculation that incorporates topographical data from the navigation in the eHorizon and additional energy consumers onboard. As such, Conti electronics know whether the route will take the vehicle onto a motorway, through a city or on a country road, whether the route is uphill or downhill, and whether the driver is using heating and air-conditioning – all factors that effect battery pack charge.
This kit then suggests solutions should the battery power not be sufficient, such as switching off additional energy consumers or making a stop along the planned route at a charging station.