What is the first thing most motorists do in winter? They turn it on heater or, better, turn on the seat heating. You should go back to 1966 year to see how the first car with seat and back heating appeared on the market. It was Cadillac DeVilleAmerican luxury sedan.

Now Heated seats now common, and even in less expensive small cars. Some high-end models are even equipped with heated steering wheel or armrests.

When it’s really cold, our first instinct is to turn on the heated seats. Because the heat near the body is much more pleasant than from central heating, which comes from the ventilation holes. But equipment supplier ZF goes even further in innovation. Here is the first one heated seat belt!

How does the heating belt work?

The operation is simple. Four ultra-thin metal heating wires with a diameter of 0.4 mm are woven into the belt tape. Belt in just two minutes heats up to 40 degrees if the car is -5! As a bonus, it provides pleasant and even heat thanks to a heating field 1.43 m long and 33 mm wide.

As a bonus, it changes absolutely nothing in the handling for the user or the assembly of the belt by the car manufacturers. On the other hand, energy consumption of the vehicle has been improved, which makes this development particularly interesting for electric cars.

First is the new ZF “heat belt”.
It is intended to reduce the use of the battery of an electric car for heating the interior of the car in winter. It’s a heated seat belt and steering wheel solution that alerts drivers while increasing battery usage by up to 15% in winter. pic.twitter.com/KONnJdOx9t

—Jack Roberts (@By_JackRoberts) January 4, 2023

Much more energy efficient contact heaters

” The air conditioner of a cooled car consumes five to six kilowatt-hours until a comfortable temperature for the passengers is reached.“, explains Björn Kreft, responsible for seat belt development at ZF at the Alfdorf plant in Baden-Württemberg.

While vehicles with internal combustion engines also use the engine’s waste heat for this, the thermal energy for electric vehicles comes entirely from the battery. Thus, interior heating occurs at the expense of autonomy, which is so valuable in such a car.

Contact heating systems, such as steering wheel heating (consumed power approx. 50 W), them Heated seats (at 100 W) and belt heating safety (70 W) are much more energy efficient during this warm-up phase. ” Intelligent network contact heaters significantly reduce electricity consumption without loss of comfort. For electric cars, this increases the range by up to 15%“.

Market entry no earlier than 2025

An additional side effect is increased security. The belt as a restraint system works flawlessly only when it fits tightly to the body. A belt as a source of heat could encourage a motorist to get behind the wheel, despite the cold, without a thick winter jacket. Thus, if necessary, the belt can perform its safety functions without interfering with the textile.

ZF has completed the development of heating jackets for serial production. ” We are negotiating with several interested manufacturers. But we also know the terms of development of their projects and therefore expect to enter the market no earlier than 2025.– says the head of the product development department.

Source: AutoBild