INTERACT ION comstAr

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COMSTAR AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | A FUTURE IN 48 V SOLUTIONS

Starting and charging systems are among the most important components of a vehicle. With the steady increase in electric and electronic content in vehicles, these systems need to be de-veloped with features that support these heavy loads, while remaining efficient. The challenge is also to ensure the size of motors remain compact, with the size and space in engine bays reducing drastically.

While talking about such systems, a company that comes to mind immediately is Comstar Auto-motive Technologies Pvt Ltd, which designs and manufactures starting and charging system for various automotive segments. In an email interaction with this publication, Sat Mohan Gupta, President and CEO, Comstar Automotive Technologies Pvt Ltd shares his views on starting and charging systems, and their future. He touches upon the various inno-vations in the segment, as well as develop-ments that Comstar is looking at, besides the trends seen in this sector.

CHASING EFFICIENCY

Reduction of CO2 emissions and increasing fuel efficiency continues to be the primary drivers of technological changes in starting and charging systems. In the case of start-stop systems, Europe has taken the lead with other regions like North America and China catching up. Meanwhile, India is still way behind in adopting these systems, Gupta noted. The trend in alternators is also

moving towards the manufacture of 48 V system alternators that are highly efficient.

An upcoming trend in the starting and charg-ing system segment is the development of inte-grated starter-alternator. This new technology in-tegrates both the starter and alternator, resulting in a product that achieves weight reduction, noise reduction and fuel efficiency improvement. Gupta said that Comstar is working on these integrated systems, and is in discussions with key OEMs on the same.

Gupta noted that the role of electronics is also sure to increase in starting and charging systems. He said partial and full hybrid technologies, inte-grated starter generator (ISG) and Brushless DC motors have electronics playing a key role in the starting and charging system design.

NEW PRODUCTS

Comstar has recently launched products that cater to all major segments of the automotive in-dustry, Gupta said. It has launched two-wheeler starters, Field Wound Starters for commercial ve-hicles and compact starters for passenger vehi-cles. Earlier, commercial vehicles used Direct Drive Starter Motors, which are bigger and heavier, but Comstar has launched Gear Reduc-tion Starter for the segment. He informed that

Tata Motors, the country’s largest commercial ve-hicles manufacturer, replaced the traditional Direct Drive Starters with Comstar’s starters, re-sulting in a weight reduction of over 4 kg, with improved packaging flexibility. In terms of stop-start systems, Comstar has upgraded from SIN to SID/COM technologies and the products are in commercial production for European and North American OEMs, Gupta said.

FOCUS ON R&D

Comstar has a team of 45 engineers for R&D based in Chennai, and has the capability to design, develop and validate products from appli-cation study to launch with customers. The company does not offer book shelf design, but op-timises products to meet customer requirement. Comstar invests about two per cent of its annual revenue on R&D.

In recent times, Comstar has collaborated with many OEMs to work on 48 V systems for pas-senger vehicles. These systems include 48 V starters, 48 V alternators and 48 V integrated starter generator. Without giving out too many details, Gupta said the company is working with a European OEM to achieve higher power density and efficiency. The advantages the 48 V technolo-gies offer include high output without adding weight into the system. As more and more electri-cal systems like infotainment and drive assist are added on to the vehicle, 48 V technologies will offer higher output without adding weight to the system, he said.

ROUND-UP

Comstar is claimed to be one of the largest ex-porter of auto components from India, and the biggest in starter motors. Currently, about 95 % of the company’s business caters to global OEMs, with about five per cent coming from the after-market. Gupta said exports account for over 90 % of Comstar’s business in revenue, and 86 % in terms of volume. The main components that are exported to Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and South Asian countries are starters, alterna-tors and starter kits.

The company’s main manufacturing plant is near Chennai, with another facility in Michigan, US, which commenced commercial production in May 2013. Comstar manufactures field wound starters for Ford trucks at the facility, and sup-plies it to the North American market. Gupta said that the company is aggressively working on joint venture opportunities in China to support its ex-isting customers and other OEMs.

TExT: Naveen Arul