Air spring applications at the rear axle or on both axles are becoming increasingly popular for electric vehicles. Air springs enable to control the levelling of the car. This enables optimized aerodynamics at high speeds as well as airflow guidance beneath the car. The latter is especially important for electric vehicles, since it facilitates the efficient passive cooling of battery packs, which are predominantly positioned in the floor area Besides that the air springs support to keep a minimum ground clearance to secure the batteries in bad road conditions.

Please visit our website for more information on this topic.

Concept of the three-chamber air spring system: The larger the available air volume, the softer the springs; the smaller the air volume, the stiffer the springs. Vibracoustic switchable air springs allow the stiffness of springs to be doubled over four gradients – from very soft to extremely stiff.

To enable this, Vibracoustic switch valves control the air flow rates and their openings need to be adequately sized for the correct amount of air to pass. The switching times also need to be short enough to enable stiffness switches to be made at speed. To ensure that switching noises are not perceptible by passengers, an optimized membrane is used. This feature is particularly important for electric vehicles, where there is no combustion noise or vibration from the motor to mask this type of noise.

To build the new geometries of the air spring, including the straightforward creation of air volume chambers, Vibracoustic uses an innovative hot gas welding manufacturing process for the air spring top pot. This allows more efficient use of the limited packaging space in the suspension area by combining various plastic and aluminum parts. The result is a weight reduction of the top pot by up to 30%.

Switchable dual-chamber air spring systems are also possible. They only offer two different stiffness levels, but still enable effective roll stabilization and are therefore a cost-efficient system to meet customer demands for improved comfort and driving dynamics in high- and medium-segment vehicles.

Weinheim, April 10,

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Basic.

Vibracoustic air springs for enhanced driving comfort and performance of a premium electric pickup truck

Vibracoustic, a leading global automotive noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) expert, has engineered state-of-the-art solutions that significantly enhance the driving comfort and experience of a premium electric pickup truck. Air springs, jounce bumpers and hydro bushings tackle unwanted excitations and support the performance of the all-electric pick-up truck.

Vehicle electrification presents new challenges for OEMs and suppliers, including increased vehicle weight, higher pre-loads, battery range anxiety and additional noise awareness impacting driver and passenger comfort. Vibracoustic engineers drew upon the decades-long NVH expertise and developed a number of solutions for a premium electric pick-up truck which support different aspects of the NVH performance and increase the overall comfort of the vehicle.

Taking account of the vehicle’s size and mass, as well as its 10,000-pound towing capacity, the air spring system needed to be highly capable and durable to manage the vehicle weight and performance. Vibracoustic’s robust single-chamber air springs on both the front and rear axle proved to be a suitable solution for handling the loads while increasing comfort, ride quality, range and control. The air springs also enable two inches of ride height adjustment in both directions at all four corners, allowing for automatic leveling and straightforward trailer attachment, easy loading and unloading as well as comfortable entry and exit.

Integrated into the air springs, Vibracoustic jounce bumpers, and top mount isolator elements further support the damping performance and account for excitation coming from driving on uneven terrain. The jounce bumpers assist vehicle handling and increase damping capability by absorbing energy from irregular road events. Additionally, Vibracoustic supplies fluid-filled hydro bushings for the steering gear system, which are designed to optimally dampen vibrations that are transferred from the wheels to the occupants. The fluid adjusts the dynamic properties of the bushing for increased comfort and the integrated radial plastic stoppers limit the radial displacement and high loads, which makes them a good fit for heavy vehicles.

Drawing on the decades-long NVH expertise, Vibracoustic continuously resolves the future mobility challenges. For trends such as electrified powertrain and demand for utility vehicles, suspension and air springs options provide an excellent solution for dealing with the increased vehicle weight, while enhancing the durability and comfort.

For more information, please visit Vibracoustic Air Springs(th,tr,es).

Presskit