Delphi’s Advanced Technology Improves Highway Safety

Delphi’s Advanced Technology Improves Highway Safety
New Car Lines Include Supplier’s Battery Disconnect Safety Device

A leader in safety innovations for more than 100 years, Mercedes-Benz is among the first automakers to include Delphi Corporation’s Battery Disconnect Safety Device (BDSD) on multiple new car lines.

Several Mercedes-Benz models incorporate Delphi’s BDSD, including all C-Class sport coupes and luxury sedans and the M-Class sport utility vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz has always optimized leading-edge technology to assist in keeping passengers out of harm’s way and Delphi’s BDSD expands on that by preventing short circuiting that could occur following some collisions.

“Providing our customers with the technology and products they need to make their vehicles safer has always been a top priority at Delphi. We are extremely happy to help Mercedes-Benz enhance passenger safety by partnering with the automaker to incorporate Delphi’s BDSD technology on all of its C-Class and M-Class models,” said Mark Sabau, Global Product Business Unit Director, Delphi Electrical Centers.

Delphi’s BDSD severs the connection between the battery and the starter and alternator in less than 1 millisecond after an electrical signal from the airbag control unit triggers the pyrotechnic safety switch. Fuses may protect other cables, but high variation in currents that flow through this cable while cranking the engine prohibits their use here.

While severing power between the battery and starter and alternator in passenger vehicles following collisions is not new, Delphi’s BDSD is far more reliable than the systems involving electromechanical relays and standard fuses that they replace. In many instances, Delphi’s BDSD is also less expensive – up to 20 percent less expensive than some competitors’ products.

Although Delphi’s BDSD disconnects power from the vehicle battery to unfused cables, it does not cut power to safety functions such as door locks, hazard lights, interior lighting and automatic emergency call systems.

Delphi’s BDSD is mounted near the battery, in most cases using only two bolts. This makes replacement of a deployed BDSD quick and easy.

Because it is comprised of a small number of parts, all enclosed in high-strength fiber-reinforced plastic, and because electrostatic discharge protection is built in, it is unlikely that an installer could trigger deployment of the pyrotechnic device. Even if activation were to occur during installation, the risk of injury is very low because all action takes place inside the reinforced plastic housing.

Delphi’s BDSD meets all common specifications in the automotive industry, is free of heavy metals and is available for immediate production. The technology can also be applied to high-voltage harnesses used in hybrid vehicles, high-voltage switches and cables in trains, boats, commercial vehicles and industrial equipment.