When it seems that we have few innovations left to see in a car, now they launch a heated seat belt which could be quite interesting. It is a ZF creation and is intended directly for the electric vehicles that will populate our roads in the coming years. The idea is not simply that the user can feel heat in the body areas through which the belt passes, rather it aims to improve energy efficiency by heating the interior optimally.
In an electric car, almost the most important thing is autonomy and it is common for us to see how this data decreases when the air conditioning is used. With this seat belt, ZF wants you to reduce energy used for heating the vehicle, allowing range to be increased by up to 15%. Heating the car with contact surfaces such as these belts, seats or the heated steering wheel is a trend that is showing more efficient than traditional air conditioning by air; At least in the electric ones.
At first glance there are no differences between this seat belt and any other conventional one. However, inside there are a number of integrated heating conductors that hardly increase its thickness and that are the ones that allow it to heat up. ZF has used special textile processing for this invention. They manage to keep the safety of the belt intact because the heaters and cables are placed so that they do not interfere. The sensation that they will get in the body of the passengers will be of a nice even heat.
It warms up immediately from the start of the car and reaches a temperature between 36 and 40 ºC. Combined with heated seats to increase passenger comfort. In fact, they point out that its use will also increase the safety of some travelers by getting many to take off their coats when getting into the car, a practice that is not recommended. Air conditioning is much more efficient in combustion cars because it takes advantage of the waste heat generated by the engine. Although this option does not exist in electric cars, it seems that innovations such as this heated seat belt will spread.
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