The innovation of automobile technology is changing day by day, in the automobile circle, you are really out if you don’t have a timely brain supplement. Today I share with you the steering system for future cars – Electric Power Steering (EPS), in the development trend of car electrification, intelligent, EPS as a new star grand appearance, it is said that this intelligent steering rack can greatly enhance the safety of driving.

EPS is the development direction of the automotive steering system, on the one hand, from the guidance of energy-saving and environmental protection policies and regulations, on the other hand, the technology itself is an upgraded and trendy configuration.” NSK China Automotive Steering Business Division General Manager Fu Pengjiu said in an interview with the “Automotive Craftsman” reporter, “the current EPS penetration rate of more than 80% in Europe and the United States, the domestic market only accounts for about 30% but will be a double-digit annual rate of jump growth, not only electric vehicles are standard, traditional internal combustion engine vehicles are also actively using this advanced technology.”

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1. Steering System Group‘s Star Products

Steering System Group steering has two core technologies: one is the material and mechanical drive system, the knowledge, and capability in processing, design, and friction that Steering System Group has accumulated over the years, and the second is the system solution for electronic and electrical appliances.

Steering System Group customers are mainly car and SUV companies, Japanese customers are Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, and Suzuki, in addition to other European and American customers such as Volkswagen, Renault, etc.

Thanks to rapid growth in recent years, from several years of consecutive double-digit growth to slight growth in the last two years, Steering System’s sales have also shown annual growth in recent years. The reason for this is that Steering System Group‘s steering rack products have responded to the changes in the market in advance, and its major customers, both old and new, and their new and old models are leading the industry.

In terms of market segments, while the car market, which also belongs to passenger cars, continues to hold the largest market share, it continues to shrink slightly, while SUVs have been growing at double-digit rates for several years in a row. The Steering System Group‘s steering products are technologically advanced and cover the requirements of host products well, Steering System Group from large SUVs to A0s, Steering System is able to provide the corresponding EPS assistance products, which not only meet the needs of customers’ products well but also respond to the current market situation that Steering System Group continues to sell well.

2. Newly launched Rack-EPS

In addition to the traditional column-type power steering, Steering System Group has also launched Rack-EPS, a “super-high” power product.

Compared to traditional steering products, EPS not only improves steering control but also significantly reduces weight, improves fuel efficiency, and increases driving range. Steering System Group has introduced a higher thrust power steering product, R-EPS, for C-class, D-class, and EV electric vehicles with a high front axle weight.

Steering System Group‘s strategy for automotive steering products is very clear, not only to lead the market now but also to extend the technology to meet the development trend of electrification and autonomous driving to better serve customers.

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3. What is the reason for the popularity of EPS?

EPS is a power steering system that relies directly on an electric motor to provide auxiliary torque and is mainly composed of a torque sensor, a speed sensor, an electric motor, a reduction mechanism, and an electronic control unit (ECU). Compared with hydraulic power steering (HPS), EPS has the following main advantages.

1) The motor provides power only when steering, which can significantly reduce fuel consumption

Hydraulic power steering system is driven by the engine steering oil pump, regardless of steering or not steering to consume part of the engine power. EPS only provides power by the motor when steering, and does not consume energy when not steering. A comparison test with a hydraulic power steering system shows that: when not steering, electric power steering can reduce fuel consumption by 2.5%; when steering, it can reduce 5.5%.

2) Lightness of steering at low speed and stability of steering at high speed

The size of the steering power can be adjusted intelligently, which can take into account the lightness of steering at low speed and the stability of maneuvering at high speed, with good return performance. The steering power provided by the hydraulic power steering system cannot be changed with the increase of vehicle speed, while the power provided by EPS can be adjusted by an intelligent program. At low speeds, EPS can provide greater steering power to achieve steering lightness; as the speed increases, the steering power can be gradually reduced and the steering force will gradually increase so that the driver will feel the obvious “road feeling” and improve vehicle stability.

In addition, EPS can also apply a certain additional return torque or damping torque, so that the steering wheel can accurately return to the middle position at low speed, and can inhibit the oscillation and overshoot of the steering wheel in the process of high-speed return, taking into account the return performance of the vehicle at high and low speeds.

3) Precise, timely and intelligent control

The direction of the development of the car is electrification, intelligent interconnection, EPS can be through the electrical signal and the whole car between the relevant systems signal transmission, so as to achieve accurate, timely, and intelligent control.

4) Modular design, small volume, cost-saving

EPS has no hydraulic steering oil pump, cylinder, hydraulic pipeline, and other components, and the motor and reduction mechanism can be made into a whole with the steering column and steering gear, which makes the whole steering system compact and light in weight. Through the setting of the program, it is easy to match with different models, which can shorten the production and development cycle and effectively reduce the cost.

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4. Improves overall vehicle safety

Countries around the world are researching intelligent networked vehicles, which on the surface has nothing to do with steering, but from the safety point of view, steering should also cooperate with the intelligence of the vehicle to improve safety. Safety can be divided into active and passive safety. In the automatic driving stage, when danger is found, the vehicle is required to not only stop but also be more intelligent. Specifically to analyze where the greatest danger, through the analysis, choose a security optimal, the least dangerous strategy, and is able to achieve through the vehicle autonomous control, which is the participation of automatic steering.

EPS is the core safety system of the car, as a subsystem, we consider linking it with more electronic control units, and currently do related control concepts and control module design with some European, American, and Japanese vehicle companies. We hope that what Steering Rack Group provides to our customers is not only the execution link, but will provide intelligent and connected services to our customers. Of course, we also discuss with our customers the way to implement the relevant functional modules.

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5. Let the parts also become the highlight of the whole car

In the purchase of vehicles, users are concerned about the brand of the vehicle, the performance, and the function of the vehicle at the same time, users will also pay attention to the brand of components.

This year, a car company in the model presentation specifically stated that a well-known brand of the new generation of EPS, the consumer recognition, and willing to pay for this option.

Steering Rack Group is also working in this direction, relying on its technical strength – friction – to improve transmission efficiency; on the other hand, using its superior products to make larger systems or units to provide customers, reducing the customer’s effort in designing the whole vehicle. For example, the wheel motors currently being made by Steering Rack Group will be an excellent match for electric vehicles (four-wheel motors plus a central control, all wire-controlled and highly efficient). If the wheel motors and wheels are assembled together to form a system solution for customers and enhance the user experience, the market effect will be revealed and it will become the highlight of the whole vehicle.

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6. Double your sales by choosing Steering System Group

Now the car is in an era of great change, the technology boundary between OEMs and component companies is getting blurred, and some OEMs are increasingly relying on some core component companies to innovate and realize some subsystems, from design, verification, integration, and integration, so that suppliers consider more not how much business, but in-depth research technology, understanding customers, service customers, while complementing with OEMs. At present, Steering System Group is already collaborating with new and existing customers in the pre-research stage.

Smart Internet and self-driving vehicles are new technologies compared to traditional fuel vehicles, and it will take a long time to establish new standards. Steering System Group’s steering technology is constantly innovating and accumulating, and the future smart steering standard will definitely involve Steering System Group.

Double your sales by choosing Steering System Group.

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