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Delphi center in the Valley emerges as world leader in hybrid-car technology
By GRACE WYLER
CHAMPION
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This battery-charging station will be installed in 700 Delphi locations in California. It’s made by Delphi and Clipper Creek Inc. in Champion.
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Chris Burns stands behind a reconstruction of the wiring for the battery of a Ford Focus Hybrid at the Delphi Technical Center in Champion. Burns, director of advanced engineering for the company’s electrical/electronic architecture, said Delphi has emerged as an international leader in electric vehicle innovation and is a critical component of the reorganized Delphi.
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Randy Sumner, Dephi’s director of global hybrid- vehicle development for the electrical/electronic architecture division, shows the orange wire signifying the high voltage required for engine-power supply in hybrid vehicles.
As electrification of the automobile takes the market by storm, engineers at Delphi Corp.’s development center here are at the forefront of the growing hybrid and electric-vehicle sector.
Less than a year after Delphi exited a prolonged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Champion Technical Center, world headquarters of the company’s electrical/electronic architecture division, has emerged as an international leader in electric-vehicle innovation and a critical component of the reorganized Delphi.
The new company has streamlined its product portfolio around safety and green technologies, said Chris Burns, director of advanced engineering for Delphi’s electrical/electronic architecture. Innovations are now based on new global trends, such as increased environmental awareness, new fuel standards and the higher cost of natural resources.
“The market drivers have changed what we are working on,” Burns said. “We shift resources according to priorities in the business.”
As international demand has grown for cars with better fuel efficiency and lower carbon emissions, the Champion Technical Center has taken center stage in Delphi’s new product development.
In the last year, the company has redesigned the 94,000 square-feet Champion Technical Center, enhancing the site’s advanced laboratory and testing facilities and building a new innovation room, where customers can look at new designs and products.
“I think this facility is almost like a new birth in its importance to the company,” Burns said. “The new owners and the leadership recognize that this hybrid market is huge.”
The shift to electric vehicles has put an even greater importance on electrical and electronic architecture, said Randy Sumner, director of global hybrid-vehicle development for the electrical/electronic architecture division.
The Champion Technical Center, which has been working on electric-vehicle technology for many years, has now increased efforts to come up with solutions for the electrical system challenges of second-generation hybrids and all-electric vehicles, Sumner said. “There is a lot more demand for the products we produce,” Sumner said. “It is a pretty exciting growth opportunity.”
Electric vehicle innovation introduces a range of different technical problems, Sumner said. The electrical systems in hybrid electric vehicles must be able to handle a high voltage and electromagnetic interference, which makes hybrid products much more complicated, he said.
Delphi’s hybrid-specific innovations include direct current converters that can handle the car’s high-voltage, high-current environment, as well as battery monitors for second-generation hybrids and connection systems that incorporate the increased safety features required for the high-voltage system.
The increased focus on hybrid-electric technology has attracted business from smaller customers, like CODA Automotive and Tesla Motors, California-based auto companies that only make electric cars, Burns said. This customer diversification is a key strategic element of the reorganized Delphi.
“We have new partnerships with new companies, partnerships we that we didn’t have before,” Burns said. “Companies with limited engineering can farm out their product engineering to us.”
The Champion Technical Center recently formed a partnership with ClipperCreek, a developer of electric vehicle charge stations, to develop a portable charging system and connector. The product is the first that Delphi electrical/electronic architecture division will sell directly to consumers, Burns said.
Delphi’s new management has been instrumental in encouraging these new developments, Burns said.
“There is more emphasis on innovation from our new owners and our new management team,” Burns said. “We are investing more in the tools that our engineers need to be faster and more innovative — we have made it a place where people want to come in and be creative.”