HELLA opens a new production line for locking actuators

Due to high demand, HELLA has opened a new production line for locking actuators in Großpetersdorf, Austria.
06-02-2024

On 20 December 2023, HELLA Fahrzeugteile Austria (HFA) had an inauguration ceremony for the new production line for locking actuators. Ralf Link said a few words about the construction, "Thanks to our employees' excellent cooperation and dedicated teamwork, we were able to successfully realise and open the production line within just 14 months." The locking actuators from HELLA ensure a safe charging process: they lock the charging socket for electric vehicles and prevent the connector from being pulled out prematurely at the vehicle's charging interface, charging stations and wallboxes. To date, HELLA has manufactured over 33 million locking actuators in the GE plants (Germany, Mexico and China). As demand is increasing, particularly for special vehicles, first production line for Special Original Equipment has now been realised in Großpetersdorf, Austria. The production volume of the new line is more than 2.5 million units per year.

 

The keypoints in short

  • Actuators ensure that the EV connector socket is locked during the charging process
  • They prevent the connector from being pulled out prematurely
  • Due to high demand, a new production line was opened in December
  • The new line has a production volume of more than 2.5 million units per year

 

 

 

Mobility of the future

The market for electric vehicles has grown enormously in recent years and will continue to do so going forward. All these electric vehicles need to be charged. As a result, major investments in charging infrastructure are required worldwide, which is why demand has exploded in recent years. To meet this demand, HELLA has set up its first line for locking actuators for Special Original Equipment. It is state of the art and features automated packaging for the actuators.

New production line

New production line for locking actuators in Großpetersdorf, Austria

Close-up of production line

Close-up of the production line for locking actuators

Close-up of locking actuators

Close-up of the locking actuators in the new production line

Locking actuators from HELLA

The locking actuators from HELLA withstand the highest pulling forces and are particularly durable: they have been tested for up to 100,000 locking cycles and are suitable for e-vehicles of all classes: from e-trucks and e-buses to e-cars. The actuators are easy to mount using a simple snap-in mounting. For the electromotive locking and unlocking function, the locking lever moves a hinge arm mounted in the locking system via electrical voltage. Reversing the polarity unlocks it. The integrated micro switch can determine the position of the locking element. This allows the charging process to start without supervising it.

locking actuator

Thanks to its explosion protection certificate, the HELLA locking actuator is particularly suitable for use in electric vehicles.

Find out more about locking actuators

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