Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of the press announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tokyo, September 8, 2015 --- Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. today announced that its traction inverter for environmentally friendly cars was the winner of the Automotive Component Prize, one of the Ultra Monozukuri component grand prizes awarded by Monozukuri Nippon Kaigi and Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun in contests that were participated in by about 1,900 companies in Japan.
This twelfth year of the annual awards put special focus on six categories: Machinery, Electrical- electronics, Automobiles, Environment, Health-biotech-medical equipment, and Living. The automotive component prize was one among a total of eleven prizes, also including the machinery component prize and the electrical-electronic component prize, awarded to parts and components deserving credit for exceptional but inconspicuous contribution to industrial and social development.
Hitachi Automotive Systems’ prize-winning traction inverter for environment-conscious cars achieves size reduction and high power output by enhancing the heat dissipation performance of the internal power module. A number of power semiconductors are concentrated in the power module of a traction inverter and generate much unwanted heat inside the inverter. The heat-dissipation performance of the power module was improved by adopting a direct dual-side water cooling system that enhanced heat dissipation by 35% compared with existing company products and also reduced inverter size by 40% while achieving higher power output than conventional counterparts.
The awarding of the Automotive Component Prize was accompanied by high praise for the inverter size reduction realized by the distinctive water cooling system. The compact inverter meets the world’s highest performance standards of Daimler of Germany, and the fact that it was built into the first Mercedes-Benz plug-in-hybrid was mentioned as another reason for the prize going to Hitachi Automotive Systems.
Hitachi Automotive Systems is committed to continuing to advance electric car evolution through the strengthening of inverters and other electric power train components.
Traction inverter for
environmentally friendly cars
Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company is engaged in the development, manufacture, sales and services of automotive components, transportation related components, industrial machines and systems, and offers a wide range of automotive systems including engine management systems, electric power train systems, drive control systems and car information systems. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi-automotive.co.jp/en/
