Press Release
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Simplify your Drive for Commercial Vehicles
World premiere in Hanover: Continental improves the operation and efficiency of
commercial vehicles with its Simplify your Drive concept
Hannover/Regensburg, September 21, 2010. Continental is launching the groundbreaking
Simplify your Drive operation and system concept also for commercial vehicles: At the
International Motor Show Commercial Vehicles in Hanover (September 23 to 30), one year
after the concept’s premiere in passenger cars, the automotive supplier will be showing how
this new approach to the entire vehicle electronic system can simplify operation and use of
trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles and result in a multitude of optimizations. It also
makes transport services safer and more intelligent, lowering fuel consumption and making
them more economical and efficient overall.
“The idea behind Simplify your Drive is to set the vehicle to an ideal basic setting using
preconfigured profiles across all vehicle domains” explains Dr. Michael Ruf, Head of
Commercial Vehicles & Aftermarket Business Unit of Continental. “Simplify your Drive for
commercial vehicles makes sure that the different control units in a truck are connected in a
logical and reasonable way to enable a safe and efficient operation.” Just as digital cameras
provide special settings for particular situations and adjust to the actual available light or
detect if the photographer wants to create a portrait, commercial vehicles will be able to
adjust their settings automatically in the future. In commercial vehicles, Simplify your Drive
automatically activates a mode that is tailored to the prevailing conditions in the respective
situation via a central gateway – on the motorway, in urban traffic or taking a break in a rest
area. This is where the individual Simplify your Drive profiles in trucks, buses or vans differ
from the profiles in cars. Whereas the “Eco”, “Sport” and “Comfort” setting were selected for
the car, Continental created the profiles “Country”, “City” and “Park & Rest” in its commercial
vehicle concept. In each profile, engine and transmission, driver assistance systems, comfort
systems, display elements and control units as well as the data communication complement
one another in excellent fashion.
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Your contact person:
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-2Simplify your Drive for commercial vehicles in detail: Country
The “Country” profile is for journeys from city to city on highways or expressways. With this,
the vehicle control releases full engine power, adjusts the entire powertrain to the upcoming
route profiles and sets cruise control or the speed restrictor to the approved speed ranges for
the respective road types. Route guidance, route selection and toll collection are other key
elements of this profile. In the future, innovative services and applications will also be
integrated using Continental's AutoLinQ. As on modern cell phones, AutoLinQ makes it
possible to install additional programs and internet-based services in commercial vehicles via
a secure internet connection. These additional programs will for example manage parking
lots and rest stops for truckers. As soon as the tachograph sees the end of driving time
approaching, it will not only warn against the threat of a legal infringement, but also try to
navigate the driver towards a rest stop with free spaces while the app even reserves the
parking space there. Continental is thereby providing a platform for the individualization of
commercial vehicles on which applications can be integrated to increase the efficiency of
operation.
Simplify your Drive for commercial vehicles in detail: City
When the truck approaches a town or city, the “City” profile is automatically activated as soon
as the vehicle reaches the city limits sign. The tachograph changes its scale in the freelyprogrammable instrument cluster, the electronics turn off fog lights and high beam, and
Continental's Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal (AFFP) uses gentle counterpressure to
remind the driver of the changed speed limits and the fuel-efficient driving style. For this, the
system relies not only on navigation data, but can also detect current speed limits with the
help of a camera for road sign detection.
Simplify your Drive for commercial vehicles in detail: Park & Rest
For Continental, however, responsibility is not limited to when trucks, buses or special
purpose vehicles are on the road. For many drivers, commercial vehicles are not just a place
of work but also a home away from home, and long hours are spent in a parked vehicle
during rest and break times. For such situations, Continental has developed the “Park &
Rest” profile. In this profile, all driving functions fade into the background and additional
possibilities for information, communication and entertainment are opened up, which are
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Your contact person:
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-3restricted during driving for reasons of safety. This is most evident from the cockpit, which
changes completely. The latest news, e-mails or video films appear on the high-resolution
screen where the speedometer, tachograph or navigation maps were just displayed. The
driver can read driving and rest times directly in the cockpit too, without having to look at the
display on the tachograph.
Use of Simplify your Drive not only makes the work of drivers easier and ensures safe and
reliable operation of vehicles by easing the burden on drivers and helping them relax, it also
optimizes vehicle usage and transport services thanks to automatic selection of perfectly
coordinated driving profiles and the integration of numerous additional functions such as fleet
management, toll collection or rest stop reservation. Adapted drive systems reduce fuel
consumption, emissions and fuel costs while suitable assistance systems for each situation
enhance comfort and reliability. Automatic procedures in administration ultimately simplify
fleet management. With Simplify your Drive, Continental therefore provides the basis for
more economic usage of commercial vehicles and hence greater success in the commercial
transport sector.
Simplify your Drive works automatically in commercial vehicles without any intervention on
the part of the driver. Behind it lies a complex system however, for which Continental has
intelligently networked the vehicle's main control units, operating systems and interfaces to
the control center and infrastructure. In addition, Simplify your Drive networks a whole series
of new kinds of solutions, which will be made available in commercial vehicles for the first
time ever, including the freely-programmable display in place of the classic instrument cluster
in the cockpit, automatic road sign detection via a camera using image recognition software,
and the e-Horizon. The latter is the vehicle's virtual vision system which, using data from the
navigation system, is aware of the stretch of road ahead and hence provides the basis for the
selection of profiles. At the same time, the eHorizon may also be used for engine and
transmission control or other driver assistance systems to enhance road safety.
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Your contact person:
Enno Pflug, +49 6196 87 2515
-4Very first public presentation at the International Motor Show Commercial Vehicles in
Hanover
At the IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover in hall 17, Continental will be demonstrating the
possibilities provided by Simplify your Drive using a presentation module that illustrates
several cockpit functions and enables visitors to experience this groundbreaking concept
from the driver's perspective. The basis for this is Continental's freely-programmable
instrument cluster, without which a operation and system concept such as Simplify your
Drive would not be possible. The development department of the leading automotive supplier
has made further progress, with work being carried out on a test model so that the new
concept can be demonstrated in a vehicle as well. Initial talks have already taken place with
customers.
With sales of approximately €20 billion in 2009, Continental is among the leading automotive
suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and
chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers,
Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a
competent partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs
approximately 143,000 in 46 countries.
The Automotive Group with its three divisions Chassis & Safety (sales of approximately €4.4 billion
in 2009, 27,000 employees), Powertrain (sales of approximately €3.4 billion in 2009, 24,000
employees) and Interior (sales of approximately €4.4 billion in 2009, 27,000 employees) achieved
sales of approximately €12 billion in 2009. The Automotive Group is present in more than 130
locations worldwide. As a partner to the automotive and commercial vehicle industry, it develops and
produces innovative products and systems for a modern automotive future in which cars provide
individual mobility and driving pleasure consistent with driving safety, environmental responsibility and
cost-efficiency.
The Chassis & Safety division develops and produces electronic and hydraulic brake and chassis
control systems, sensors, driver assistance systems, air bag electronics and sensors, washer systems
and electronic air suspension systems. Its core competence is the integration of active and passive
driving safety into ContiGuard®. The Powertrain division integrates innovative and efficient system
solutions for vehicle powertrains. The comprehensive range of products includes gasoline and diesel
injection systems, engine management, transmission control, including sensors and actuators, as well
as fuel-supply systems and components and systems for hybrid and electro-drives. Information
management is at the very heart of the Interior division, which provides a range of products that
includes instrument clusters and multifunctional displays, control units, electronic car-entry systems,
tire-monitoring systems, radios, multimedia and navigation systems, climate control systems,
telematics solutions and cockpits.
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Your contact person:
Enno Pflug, +49 6196 87 2515
-5Enno Pflug
External Communications, Interior division
Continental Automotive GmbH
Sodener Strasse 9
65824 Schwalbach am Taunus
Ph.: 06196 87-2515
Fax: 06196 8779-2515
enno.pflug@continental-corporation.com
www.continental-press.com
Your contact person:
Enno Pflug, +49 6196 87 2515
www.continental-corporation.com