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E/E Architecture puts Delphi on Eco-Friendly Fast Track


WEBWIRE

Less material, improved efficiencies, recyclability characterize Delphi’s E/E architecture

WARREN, Ohio — Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. The familiar mantra conjures up visions of beverage cans, plastic bottles and newspapers filling a recycling bin, not automobiles cruising past a filling station or being disassembled and reclaimed. But Delphi Corporation’s (PINKSHEETS: DPHIQ) electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture may change that.

E/E architecture has the potential to move the auto industry — production, operation and reclaiming spent vehicles — onto the earth-friendly fast track.

Developing an E/E architecture is the rigorous up-front design work that involves defining the electrical and electronic system, starting with the physical and functional partitioning of the various subsystems and components — the automobile’s central nervous system. It determines how many electronic controllers there will be and where they will be placed, what materials will be used, how much wiring and cable will be used, and how various components will be positioned. Well-designed E/E architectures provide the most efficient automotive central nervous systems possible.

At Delphi, customers work with our engineers to develop E/E architectures uniquely suited to their specific needs while reducing production costs, weight and mass, and improving reliability and ease of assembly.

“Capitalizing on Delphi’s expertise as master architects in designing and producing E/E architectures typically results in a 10 to 30 percent improvement in each of these areas,” reports Jim Spencer, president of Delphi - E/EA. “It also results in greener, more eco-friendly vehicles that require smaller amounts of raw materials to produce, are more fuel-efficient, and are easier to reclaim once they are no longer useful.”

Automobiles are amazingly complex, Spencer continues. “Most have more than one mile of wiring, a couple dozen computer modules and multiple serial data links to support an everincreasing array of passenger safety, comfort and entertainment features. It is at this level — the architectural level — where you can make the greatest impact and experience the greatest gains.”

The electrical system is a natural integrator, touching all areas of the vehicle. E/E architecture can optimize packaging and routing of the wiring harness so that it fits in smaller or better places. In some instances it can eliminate the need for the conduit or harness covering that wiring may be packaged in, cutting costs and labor required to produce the system as well as making it easier to separate materials and recycle components at the end of the vehicle’s life.

In Europe, governments mandate that OEMs recycle end-of-life vehicles. In the United Kingdom alone 2.2 million vehicles come to the end of their lives each year. By weight, up to 80 percent of each of those automobiles is recycled. E/E architecture could make recycling greater percentages of those vehicles easier by eliminating some of the extraneous materials that make separating materials difficult.

Delphi’s E/E architecture also reduces the amount of hazardous materials, such as lead, used in the manufacture of new vehicles by reducing or eliminating the use of tin-lead solders. It reduces the use of raw materials, such as copper, by using smaller-gauge wiring without compromising physical break strength. And, it incorporates products such as Delphi’s IVT Battery Sensor, which helps extend the life of the battery and improve fuel efficiency, recyclable halogenfree cable — an alternative to PVC — and Delphi molded components produced at facilities where 100 percent of scrap plastic is recycled.

“Delphi’s E/E architecture improves the vehicle’s capabilities, enabling OEMs to provide superior products that have less impact on the environment. That’s good for everybody — manufacturers and consumers,” Spencer says.
For more information about Delphi Corp. (OTC: DPHIQ), visit www.delphi.com



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