Trend Topics

We shape the mobility trends of tomorrow

Global megatrends are influencing and shaping the mobility of the future. We want to illustrate the currently most important mega trends in the automotive industry, e-mobility, autonomous driving, connectivity and sustainability, and show where and how LEONI is involved in detail.

Challenge & opportunity: mobility of tomorrow

Passenger and freight traffic is increasing worldwide. Environmental awareness is on the rise. Urbanization is progressing rapidly. Everything is on the move. Tomorrow's mobility must find an answer to all these challenges.

The solutions are just as diverse as the transportation concepts. Whether electric or autonomous driving, connectivity or sustainability: what the mobility trends have in common is that data and energy must be intelligently and efficiently connected and distributed: between the components in the vehicle, between the means of transport themselves and to external supply, infrastructure and control systems. LEONI's innovative cable and wiring systems ensure optimum connections.

Autonomous driving

Fundamentally revolutionizing the way we move

Automated driving describes the accident-free movement of vehicles without any human intervention. Among other things, high-resolution sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms are used to steer vehicles through traffic automatically. The aim is to make traffic safer and more efficient. At the same time, people gain time and flexibility and can use this for productive work, exciting entertainment or relaxation.

In order to make automated driving suitable for everyday use and for the masses, far-reaching changes need to be made to the existing vehicle architecture. In particular, safe operation without manual intervention requires intelligent solutions. Here, LEONI is focusing on innovative developments to ensure the fault-tolerant transmission of data and energy. The basis for their realization is the definition of a vehicle architecture that takes into account aspects of functional safety on the one hand and economic efficiency on the other. LEONI's system expertise and simulation are the keys to success here.

In addition to the technical challenges already described, there are currently still unresolved legal and ethical issues on the path from assisted to autonomous driving. Various prototypes from different car manufacturers and technology companies are currently gathering experience on public roads. In addition, the first production vehicles are on the market that allow drivers with SAE Level 3 functionality or higher to take their attention off the road, at least temporarily.

In the field of autonomous commercial vehicles, LEONI is part of the ATLAS-L4 research and development project. The aim is to improve traffic safety, reduce traffic jams through predictive planning and optimize deployment times with autonomously driving commercial vehicles at SAE 4 level. At the same time, autonomous trucks drive more smoothly, making them more fuel-efficient and therefore more environmentally friendly. In this project, commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus is responsible for the overall system development and the integration of all components into the vehicle. As a project partner, LEONI ensures that the on-board network and the electronic line distribution of the automation system always function reliably, regardless of any faults that may occur.

Connectivity

Connecting people and vehicles

Networking, or "connectivity", is a dominant trend in our digital world. Remote work and working from home are clear indicators that in many professional fields today, it is no longer decisive where we work from, but rather how we want to use our digital networking options with each other in the future.

In addition to the networking of people with each other, the networking of man and machine is increasingly coming to the fore. It is no longer unusual to check vehicle statuses, such as the battery charge level, using an app and cell phone. And the introduction of eCall, the networking of the vehicle with the emergency call center, is another example of how digitalization is also finding its way into vehicles. Technologies such as LTE and 5G make it possible to be online at all times and communicate with each other quickly. The realization of this type of data transport and communication also requires greater networking of the systems in the vehicle, e.g. if the emergency call is to be triggered via the airbag system and further information such as the number of occupants or the severity of the accident is to be transmitted. Various technology trends such as the software-defined vehicle and high-performance computers will further increase the need for communication in future vehicles. Automated driving, for example, requires a large amount of high-resolution sensor data (lidar, camera, radar, ultrasound) in order to create an accurate model of the environment. In addition, not only is the volume of messages for communication within the vehicle increasing, but also for communication between the vehicle and the outside world, e.g. to a vehicle manufacturer cloud.However, this increasing complexity is currently pushing the classic bus systems to their limits. Various extensions such as CAN FD and CAN XL have taken place in recent years. In addition, Ethernet has also found its way into vehicle networking, which in turn enables completely new networking concepts in the vehicle. External vehicle communication relies on antennas, which in today's vehicles can be a dozen or more, as vehicle access today is much more than just two buttons on a radio key.

LEONI is already working intensively on appropriate technologies to meet the resulting increasing demands on vehicle architecture and physical connections in the future. Examples include the design of new EE architectures in the early development phase together with the OEMs, the production of data cables for high data rates and also the joint development of zonal controllers by Valeo and LEONI, an important component of new EE architectures.

Electromobility

Rethinking the drive

Growing environmental awareness and the need to reduce emissions and improve the CO2 footprint are prompting the automotive industry to increasingly focus on electromobility. The market share of electrically powered vehicles is growing accordingly. Electric mobility will therefore play a key role in shaping new mobility concepts and ecosystems on the road to climate neutrality.

End consumers are increasingly demanding affordable, reliable and powerful electric vehicles with sophisticated charging technology and a dense network of charging options and facilities for seamless everyday use. This in turn requires reliable technologies and systems for energy and data supply, such as those used in a vehicle's electrical system with its low-voltage and high-voltage components. High-voltage and low-voltage wiring systems from LEONI have been in series production in electric vehicles since 2011. Today, LEONI offers integrated solutions for wiring systems for all alternative drive systems - from purely electric vehicles to hybrid drives and fuel cells. Thanks to our expertise and experience, we offer customized cable harness solutions that meet the increasing requirements for charging infrastructures, safe energy and data transmission and innovative solutions for battery cabling.

Sustainability

Shaping sustainable mobility

Resource scarcity, climate change and social justice are the major social and ecological challenges of our time, which LEONI is also facing. As a global company, a manufacturer of wiring systems and an important supplier to the automotive industry, we have a special responsibility and want to play an active role in shaping sustainability. With our ReWire sustainability program introduced in 2021, we have declared sustainability to be a central component of our corporate strategy and anchored it in all divisions along the value chain. In this way, we are making our contribution to sustainable development in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

LEONI's understanding of sustainability is based on the vision of a future in which climate-friendly and resource-efficient mobility is accessible to everyone. On the way to this future, LEONI products play an important role as the "nervous systems" of many vehicles. With its key components and solutions, LEONI wants to enable its customers to make a contribution to the mobility transition and to responsible production and value chains. The considerable use of materials and labour required for the products entails the responsibility to minimize emissions, conserve resources and ensure decent working and living conditions. LEONI is therefore working to create transparency and circular material flows along the entire production and value chain and is committed to its employees and their environment. In this way, LEONI is positioning itself as a preferred partner for sustainable mobility.

The high proportion of wiring systems for electric and hybrid vehicles in the order book shows how important new mobility concepts already are for LEONI today. LEONI is also active in other fields of innovation such as connected mobility, autonomous driving, automated production and intelligent products and services. LEONI is thus pursuing the goal of further advancing the global trend towards sustainable, environmentally friendly products and technologies with needs-based solutions.