Japanese Parts Manufacturers Display Latest Wares

YOKOHAMA, Japan – Transmissions and hybrid and electric-car technology are featured at the 2014 Japan Society of Automotive Engineers conference.
The recent event attracted more than 400 OEMs and component and material suppliers. Among them:

Jatco

Jatco, Nissan's main transmission supplier, displays a hybrid continuously variable transmission designed for cars producing 148 lb.-ft. (200 Nm) of torque. Jatco expects to introduce the unit, the second in its CVT8 Hybrid series, on an unspecified 2.0L Nissan car in December.

The supplier's current CVT8 Hybrid transmission, designed for torque levels of 258 lb.-ft. (350 Nm), is fitted on the Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 hybrids.

Jatco is producing about 1,500 of the gearboxes per month, including 500 units in Japan for the QX60 and 1,000 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, for the Pathfinder. The supplier plans to raise output to 4,500 units per month by 2016, with its Aguascalientes-based subsidiary accounting for almost all of the growth.

Jatco also exhibits its 7-speed automatic transmission modified for Nissan's Cima, Fuga, Skyline, Infiniti G50 and Infiniti Q50 hybrids. Monthly output is about 1,000 units.
The transmission is assembled on the same production line as Jatco’s standard 7-speed gearbox.

Aisin

Aisin, Japan's leading producer of automatic transmissions, displays an 8-speed unit installed in the front-wheel-drive Lexus RX350 and Volvo 60 series and produced at its plant in Anjo, Aichi prefecture.

Aisin also exhibits a 6-speed transmission for Chrysler’s Ram brand pickup truck, manufactured in Austin, IN, by Aisin Drivetrain. The supplier is producing 3,000 units per month.

Toyota Industries

Toyota Industries shows off its DC/DC converter lineup including units for the Prius, CT200h, Aqua, HS250h and RX450h hybrids. The next-generation unit, expected to be 50% smaller with no loss in power output, will be installed in the Prius as soon as 2016.

The supplier also displays a compact motor and inverter for a future mini-electric car. The motor produces 12 hp and 49 lb.-ft. (66 Nm), while the inverter is rated at 63 volts.

Nichicon

Nichicon also fields a DC/DC converter, this one for Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric car. The company supplied Nissan when the automaker launched the Leaf in 2010 but since has been replaced.

Nichicon also displays film condensers supplied to Honda for the Accord Hybrid, Ford for the Fusion Hybrid, and Toyota for the Prius and other hybrids in the automaker’s lineup. A company official notes every hybrid vehicle built in Japan employs a film condenser.

Mitsubishi Electric

Related technology is shown by Mitsubishi Electric, which hopes to introduce a prototype motor-inverter by late 2016 for unspecified OEMs’ plug-in hybrids and EVs, and by Hitachi, which hopes to sell a future motor inverter to a still-to-be-named Japanese automaker. Hitachi supplies the motor and inverter to General Motors for the Chevrolet Volt.

Nippon Chemi-Con

Nippon Chemi-Con, a leading capacitor maker, displays its DL Cap device used in the micro-hybrid systems in Mazda’s Axela, Atenza (sold overseas as the Mazda3 and Mazda6, respectively) and CX-5 models, and in Honda’s Fit and Zexel hybrids. The supplier delivers about 3,000 modules a month to Honda and 10,000 to Mazda, and hopes to raise annual capacitor production from 150,000 to 400,000 over the next three years.

Hitachi Automotive Systems

Hitachi Automotive Systems exhibits its new prismatic lithium-ion battery, which it plans to introduce in late 2015.

Hitachi currently supplies a cylindrical unit to Nissan for its Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 hybrid SUVs. It supplies the same unit to GM for its lineup of mild hybrids equipped with the automaker's eAssist system, including the Buick Regal and Buick LaCrosse.

In addition to GM and Nissan, Hitachi supplies Li-ion batteries to Isuzu for its Elf hybrid truck. The company has no plans to supply batteries for electric cars.

Denso
Denso displays a new standardized heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit designed for B-, C- and D-segment vehicles and expected to reduce component variants 50%.

y standardizing sub-components such as the servo motor, blower fan and air-mixing door, the supplier also reduces the unit’s weight 20%.

The display unit is for front-wheel-drive cars and by 2020 will comprise about half of Denso's annual HVAC production, currently about 20 million units.

Toyota Industries
Toyota Industries also exhibits its main electric compressor lineup for air conditioners. The supplier produces about 15 million units per year and plans to raise the total to 20 million by 2020.

The compressor products include the ES34 unit adopted by Toyota for the Lexus RX450h, GS450h and LS600h models; Audi Q5, Q7 and A6; Porsche Cayenne; and Ford Fusion.

The supplier's ES14 unit is installed in the Prius, Aqua and Corolla hybrids (the Aqua is sold outside Japan as the Prius C). The ES27 is used in the Prius Alpha (sold overseas as the Prius V), Prius Plug-In, Crown and Lexus CT200h hybrids. The ES36 is installed in the Lexus 600h.

Mitshi Chemicals

Mitsui Chemicals displays 19 products including a rear-door module and plastic hood made from glass-fiber reinforced polypropylene for Daihatsu’s Tanto Custom and the Nissan X-Trail. The X-Trail is the first global application of the material, which the supplier estimates can reduce weight 30%.