Saft, the global designer and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industry, has won a contract to supply batteries to Actia, the major player in automotive electronics. The batteries will provide emergency power for Actia’s ACU-II (second generation Automotive Communications Unit), a device that will be installed in new vehicles for Actia’s high-end European car manufacturer customers.
The ACU-II provides services that improve the connectivity of motor vehicles, with the main application being for eCall, the new safety system that will be mandatory for all new European vehicles from 2015.
The EU is introducing eCall to reduce injury and fatalities in the event of car accidents, with eCall devices detecting when a car has experienced a serious accident. The device then automatically contacts the emergency services with the car’s exact location, direction of travel and number of passengers. This enables the emergency services to cut their response times and save lives. As well as eCall functionality, the ACU-II will also provide drivers with the ability to track their car and control aspects of their vehicle through a smartphone application, for example locking or unlocking doors, or turning on the heater.
The batteries selected will power the ACU-II in emergency situations and have been specially designed to cope with this demanding automotive application.
Although most vehicles do not experience a serious accident, for those that do, the ACU-II units need to perform with unquestionable reliability, meaning the batteries need to remain on standby and hold their charge for many years before powering the emergency signal with absolute reliability in an emergency.
The cells selected for this application are lithium chemistry with the capability to store energy for more than 10 years in driving conditions that might include extreme heat and cold as well as mechanical shocks before providing reliable energy when it is needed.
“Many thousands of drivers and passengers will benefit from the ability of Saft’s lithium metal oxide batteries to hold a charge for many years.” said Ralf Sauer, European Sales and Marketing Manager for Saft’s Tadiran brand. “The Saft group’s AA sized batteries have a long shelf life, very low rate self discharge and a wide operating temperature range, making them ideal for providing reliable emergency power for in-vehicle electronic systems.”