Overview of Disruption: CASE

May 12, 2020

Have you ever asked yourself what the future of mobility will look like? To create our Vision 2025 strategy, our leadership team and employees from different departments considered several trends in the future of mobility. Below, you can read more about four key trends (Connectivity, Autonomous Drive, Shared Service and Electric – CASE) and how they are influencing our fuel systems and CVS businesses.

Today, nearly everything and everyone is connected through technology. Connectivity gives us new perspectives and opportunities. We have access to all sorts of information, current events, financials or purchasing options, and can stay networked with friends and colleagues around the world. The internet of things is changing our daily lives as much as it's changing the automotive industry. Connectivity in vehicles is becoming increasingly prevalent and important. Connectivity is not referring solely to connecting to the internet via wifi or bluetooth; it’s also related to digital service platforms. These platforms help end-customers to connect to their vehicle and other vehicles and enables networking between components in our car.

Self-driving cars are no longer a vision in the distant future. They are already being tested on many highways and in many cities. In a traditional automobile, there has been less focus on cabin climatization; however, autonomous driving gives the driver time to relax, perhaps even turn the front seat to face passengers in the back of the vehicle, much like a train has seats that face one another. This conversion of a transport vehicle into a "social seating area" may require a new approach to cabin architecture, including internal water sources (coffee, etc.), more efficient cabin climatization and improved clear vision systems.

In the near-term, as the technology continues to advance, more OEMs are realizing the importance of sensor cleaning to help ensure vehicle safety and performance. Kautex CVS is already actively participating in this emerging segment with OEMS. The team has several products designed to clean ADAS sensors and cameras and has new products in the pipeline.

Ride-sharing, autonomous driving that allows improved utilization of a car as an asset, car rentals, and private taxis are another trend we must consider. Projections for automotive growth remain strong through 2030, but consumers and their usage habits may change over time. There may be fewer individual-owners of autos while the number of car-sharing schemes may grow in popularity.

To address this trend, Kautex can offer more content per vehicle. Listening carefully to customers – and learning from our own end-user experiences – can help us innovate new products that fulfil latent customer or end-user needs.

Electric vehicles – whether hybrid or fully battery electric (BEV) – seem to be at the heart of future mobility. Electric mobility requires batteries and, in the case of hybrid vehicles, fuel tanks as well. A battery system stores and provides the energy used to power the propulsion of battery electric vehicles and needs to be protected and sealed by a robust housing. The battery systems of the BEVs on the road today are mostly steel or aluminium or have a steel/aluminium base and plastic lid. The steel drives significant weight issues for the OEM and requires additional energy to propel the heavier vehicle forward. Kautex, with its knowledge of impact resistance, fire resistance and leak proofing, is a powerhouse in lightweight packaging.

These trends help determine our Vision 2025 and lead to product improvements, as well as product innovations. While we shared an overview of the disruptive trends in this article, these trends are years in the making in terms of legislative support, infrastructure and consumer adoption. In the meantime, the future of fuel is far from over and our current products will only slowly start to decline; nevertheless, we want to be well-positioned to play in a world without internal combustion engines.