Abstract
As far as the decade to 2010 is concerned, environmental issues will become more and more important in the design process of cars. Local emissions (NOx , CO, particles) and global emissions (green house gases) under the Kyoto protocol will have a significant impact on the design of new powertrains and other systems mainly those requiring an energy consumption increase.
This paper deals with electrical A/C systems (e-A/Cs) development taking into account these new requirements. Due to this environmental pressure, electrical power will have a growing role in the global energy management of the car. That will first affect the power-trains with 42 electrified cars still using internal combustion engines, Hybrid cars, Pure Electrical cars and finally fuel cell cars. This major change for the automotive industry will affect also all the other functions of the car and mainly the A/C system.
The paper describes first the key environmental parameters for the design of an A/C system.
After this theoretical approach, the paper presents different possible improvements in the development of new A/C system to be adapted to new powertrains. This analysis includes:
- Key functions to be improved with e-A/Cs
- experimental results showing performances
- comparison with mechanical A/C systems
The conclusion deals with the market expectations, the technological maturity of these new electrical A/C systems and the improvements that could be realized in the energy management of a car.