Customers today demand experiences that enrich their lives in meaningful ways. Experience thinking is a framework for innovation, focusing on engaging customers with breathtaking experiences that are smarter, intuitive and sustainable. A comfortable vehicle cabin experience is one of the most critical deciding factor in new vehicle purchases. Experience thinking in cabin design demands that companies consider all aspects of customer’s cabin experience.
A comfortable cabin experience for drivers and passengers means designing the cabin for thermal, acoustic and ergonomic comfort. In addition, the highly digital cabin of modern vehicles requires that the occupant’s experience with the cabin infotainment system and electronic controls is top notch to ensure that the overall comfort perception is increased. The Cabin Comfort Industry Process from Dassault Systemes provides designers, engineers and researchers with realistic design & simulation solutions that, when used to drive the engineering process, ensures a perfectly designed cabin that creates a superior customer comfort experience.
Energy efficiency must also be at the core of cabin design, as fuel economy becomes a decision factor differentiating brands and vehicles. Associated regulatory procedures, such as Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), are putting tremendous pressure for designing an energy efficient cabin. For HVAC systems and cabin designers, designing a comfortable cabin is not enough, as energy consumption must be kept in check. Within the context of powertrain electrification, climate control is the second main source of battery range reduction, with up to 50% lost to the cabin climate control in extreme weather conditions (too hot or too cold). Dassault Systemes systems modeling and simulation solutions for fuel economy/battery range predictions integrated with the cabin solutions provide cabin engineers and vehicle integration engineers with the ability to assess the cabin footprint on overall vehicle energy management and balance it with passenger comfort for an overall great vehicle experience.
