Ficosa inaugurates new centre for electric mobility technology

The new e-Mobility Hub has been officially opened

Ficosa, focused on the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of high-technology vision, safety, connectivity and efficiency systems for the automotive and mobility sectors, has inaugurated its e-Mobility Hub.

This centre, located in Viladecavalls (Barcelona), specialises in electromobility systems for hybrid and electric vehicles. The company has invested more than €10 million in this new 1,200m² facility, employing more than 120 engineers.

The e-Mobility Hub has latest generation premises with four new laboratories certified by the ISO-Automotive SPICE regulations to develop mechatronic systems. At this centre, software and hardware solutions for hybrid and electric vehicles will be developed and manufactured, specifically battery-management systems (BMS) and on-board chargers (OBC). The battery-management system is a device that improves user safety and allows the monitoring of battery charge level at all times, as well as its health. On the other hand, the on-board charger is assembled inside the vehicle and charges the battery using an electric cable, directly from a standard alternating current (AC) power socket.

Ficosa is focusing on products for more aided driving, driverless vehicles, connected cars and e-mobility

Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, said: “We’re working with the sector, with the whole value chain, on defining a strategic framework that will allow us to develop important leveraging opportunities. We have to accompany this industry transformation, there is no doubt that there will be a disruptive shift in the industry that we must be part of.”

Ficosa CEO, Javier Pujol, said: “The e-Mobility Hub is a huge milestone for Ficosa, as it puts us on the leading edge of the revolution that electric mobility is bringing about in the sector with a cutting-edge centre at a global level. Likewise, this facility joins the hubs in connectivity and safety that Ficosa has in Viladecavalls, consolidating its leadership in key technologies for the transformation of the automobile.”

A strong commitment to capitalising on innovation has led the company to boost the resources it puts into R&D, which was roughly eight per cent of sales in 2017. The company expects to put more than €500 million towards new products business between 2019 and 2023.