Global and China Automotive Comfort System (Seating system, Air Conditioning System) Research Report, 2024
Automotive comfort systems include seating system, air conditioning system, soundproof system and chassis suspension to improve comfort of drivers and passengers. This report highlights seating system and air conditioning system.
Seating system: the penetration of comfort functions rises, and zero-gravity seats usher in a boom period.
As intelligent vehicles gain popularity, automotive seats have ever more comfort functions such as heating, ventilation, massage, electric leg/foot rests and memory seat. Not only is the penetration of these functions on the rise, but they also begin to spread from the front row to the third row of seats.
In the case of seat heating function, from January to November 2023, its installation rate in the front row and the second row was 7.8% and 3.9%, respectively. Since 2022 the third row of seats has also begun to be equipped with heating function, and the main models include Li L8/L9, WEY Gaoshan and NIO ES8.
In terms of entire seats, the installation of zero-gravity seats has reached a small peak. Since being installed on AITO M7 (RMB289,800-379,800) in July 2022, zero-gravity seats have been mounted on models like IM LS7 (RMB309,800-459,800), AITO S7 (RMB249,800-349,800), ZEEKR X (RMB189,800-209,800) ), WEY Blue Mountain DHT (RMB273,800-308,800), Denza D9 (RMB335,000-445,000), and Trumpchi E8 (RMB209,800-229,800). They have been optional as driver’s and copilot seats of Deepal S7 (RMB149,900-202,900), a model launched in June 2023.
In the future, zero-gravity seats will be equipped with various sensors to enable adaptive adjustment, health monitoring and other functions, and comfort functions will keep being upgraded.
Faurecia: In April 2023, Faurecia introduced Zero-Gravity Captain Chair. It offers additional comfort with sensors able to identify potential physical pain and then activate corrective actions to alleviate any discomfort. It incorporates high-tech comfort solutions, such as an inflatable neck pillow and a headrest that automatically adjusts to its occupant’s height. As well as lower-back support and massage functions with pressure mapping to enhance relaxation, it includes a new, immersive haptic solution called VIBE, where tactile sensations are created by the car seat, stimulating the user’s sense of touch. When activated, digital 4D sound algorithms automatically create vibrations that accompany any sound played on the vehicle’s audio system.
Yanfeng: In January 2024, Yanfeng launched the new-generation Hover Seat equipped with Seat Sensing Posture ID technology. Based on zero-gravity research, this seat actively relieves fatigue for passengers during driving by detecting the user's body languages such as sitting posture, fatigue level and body size.
?Adaptive Welcome Mode for Different Body Sizes: When a passenger gets into the car, the seat’s pressure pad sensors accurately recognize information about his/her body size and automatically adjust the headrest, lumbar support and side wings to make the seat more closely fit his/her body.
?Seating Position Recognition and Fitting: The sensor determines the seating posture of the occupant according to the pressure distribution to the seat. Equipped with a matrix of multi-faceted support blocks, the seat automatically adjusts the blocks to give the most comfortable support to the body where needed.
?Fatigue Detection and Automatic Massage: The seat detects the occupant changing their posture over time, then determines the degree and location of fatigue, and automatically triggers the partition massage function.
Air conditioning system: as the installation rate of heat pump air conditioners rises, air conditioning control systems become personalized, energy-efficient and active.
Heat pump air conditioner is an air conditioning system that integrates cooling and heating functions. Its core components include a compressor and a heat exchanger, which control indoor temperature by absorbing or dissipating heat in the air. By virtue of high heating efficiency, obvious energy saving effect, improvement of cruising range and other benefits, heat pump air conditioner has become a new track in the development of electric vehicle air conditioning systems.
The data from ResearchInChina show that in China electric vehicles have begun to carry heat pump air conditioners since 2021, with a surging penetration, up to 23.3% from January to November 2023.
Heat pump air conditioner refrigerants are typically R-134a, R-1234yf and R744 (carbon dioxide, CO?). R744 can extend the cruising range of vehicles because of its better effects in environmental protection, safety, flow heat exchange and low temperature heating, and the prices of its raw materials are low. In the future, CO? heat pump systems using R744 refrigerant will become mainstream. Chinese suppliers have started deploying the CO? heat pump market:
Moreover in terms of air conditioning function, OEMs also head in the direction of refinement. AI algorithms make air conditioning systems controlled in multiple zones, and allow the driver and passengers to set their own temperatures, meeting the needs of different occupants. AI algorithms not only enable accurate control over parameters like refrigerant circulation and fan speed, but also take into account their impacts on battery cruising range to achieve energy-saving control effects.
NIO ES8 (launched in December 2022) packs an intelligent five-zone independent air-conditioning system, which uses a self-developed air-conditioning energy consumption calculation method to achieve: five-zone temperature control, five-zone blowing mode, and four-zone air volume adjustment, accurately controlling 0.5℃ in the range of 15-31℃.This system can be controlled via voice interaction or mobile phone APP remotely.
?Front row: 2-zone temperature control, 2-zone blowing mode, 2-zone air volume control
?Second row: 2-zone temperature control, 2-zone blowing mode, 1-zone air volume control
?Third row: 1-zone temperature control, 1-zone blowing mode, 1-zone air volume control
The OTA Update 4.6.2 has been officially pushed to Li L9 (launched in June 2022), adding a new mode of air conditioning energy saving. In this mode, the car will reduce the power of air conditioning and automatically adjust seat heating and steering wheel heating. While maintaining interior comfortable temperature, this mode cuts down energy consumption and increases the available cruising range of the car in EV mode. In urban commuting in winter (outdoor temperature: <0℃), the CLTC range can be increased by up to 50%.
IM LS6 (launched in October 2023), with its air-conditioning smart air outlet function, automatically turns off the air outlet in unoccupied positions by reading seat signals, making the air-conditioning system more efficient.
FAW-Volkswagen ID.7 VIZZION (launched in December 2023) is equipped with Smart Air, a hidden intelligent air conditioner that can memorize the height of different passengers, and set and adjust the height of the air outlet. Equipped with a climate sensor, it can automatically adjust the wind speed and air outlet angle according to the in-car environment, and automatically turn on defogging and defrosting functions according to humidity and temperature.
Future automotive air conditioning algorithms will use advanced technologies such as deep learning and neural networks to enable air conditioning systems to self-learn and optimize, more accurately predict the driver's needs, directly and actively adjust temperature, air volume and mode, minimizing manual adjustments by users and achieving more precise temperature control and energy efficiency optimization.
Smart Car Information Security (Cybersecurity and Data Security) Research Report, 2025
Research on Automotive Information Security: AI Fusion Intelligent Protection and Ecological Collaboration Ensure Cybersecurity and Data Security
At present, what are the security risks faced by inte...
New Energy Vehicle 800-1000V High-Voltage Architecture and Supply Chain Research Report, 2025
Research on 800-1000V Architecture: to be installed in over 7 million vehicles in 2030, marking the arrival of the era of full-domain high voltage and megawatt supercharging.
In 2025, the 800-1000V h...
Foreign Tier 1 ADAS Suppliers Industry Research Report 2025
Research on Overseas Tier 1 ADAS Suppliers: Three Paths for Foreign Enterprises to Transfer to NOA
Foreign Tier 1 ADAS suppliers are obviously lagging behind in the field of NOA.
In 2024, Aptiv (2.6...
VLA Large Model Applications in Automotive and Robotics Research Report, 2025
ResearchInChina releases "VLA Large Model Applications in Automotive and Robotics Research Report, 2025": The report summarizes and analyzes the technical origin, development stages, application cases...
OEMs’ Next-generation In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System Trends Report, 2025
ResearchInChina releases the "OEMs’ Next-generation In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) System Trends Report, 2025", which sorts out iterative development context of mainstream automakers in terms of infota...
Autonomous Driving SoC Research Report, 2025
High-level intelligent driving penetration continues to increase, with large-scale upgrading of intelligent driving SoC in 2025
In 2024, the total sales volume of domestic passenger cars in China was...
China Passenger Car HUD Industry Report, 2024
ResearchInChina released the "China Passenger Car HUD Industry Report, 2025", which sorts out the HUD installation situation, the dynamics of upstream, midstream and downstream manufacturers in the HU...
ADAS and Autonomous Driving Tier 1 Suppliers Research Report, 2025 – Chinese Companies
ADAS and Autonomous Driving Tier 1 Suppliers Research Report, 2025 – Chinese Companies
Research on Domestic ADAS Tier 1 Suppliers: Seven Development Trends in the Era of Assisted Driving 2.0
In the ...
Automotive ADAS Camera Report, 2025
①In terms of the amount of installed data, installations of side-view cameras maintain a growth rate of over 90%From January to May 2025, ADAS cameras (statistical scope: front-view, side-view, surrou...
Body (Zone) Domain Controller and Chip Industry Research Report,2025
Body (Zone) Domain Research: ZCU Installation Exceeds 2 Million Units, Evolving Towards a "Plug-and-Play" Modular Platform
The body (zone) domain covers BCM (Body Control Module), BDC (Body Dom...
Automotive Cockpit Domain Controller Research Report, 2025
Cockpit domain controller research: three cockpit domain controller architectures for AI Three layout solutions for cockpit domain controllers for deep AI empowerment
As intelligent cockpit tran...
China Passenger Car Electronic Control Suspension Industry Research Report, 2025
Electronic control suspension research: air springs evolve from single chamber to dual chambers, CDC evolves from single valve to dual valves
ResearchInChina released "China Passenger Car Elect...
Automotive XR Industry Report, 2025
Automotive XR industry research: automotive XR application is still in its infancy, and some OEMs have already made forward-looking layout
The Automotive XR Industry Report, 2025, re...
Intelligent Driving Simulation and World Model Research Report, 2025
1. The world model brings innovation to intelligent driving simulation
In the advancement towards L3 and higher-level autonomous driving, the development of end-to-end technology has raised higher re...
Autonomous Driving Map (HD/LD/SD MAP, Online Reconstruction, Real-time Generative Map) Industry Report 2025
Research on Autonomous Driving Maps: Evolve from Recording the Past to Previewing the Future with "Real-time Generative Maps"
"Mapless NOA" has become the mainstream solution for autonomous driving s...
End-to-End Autonomous Driving Research Report, 2025
End-to-End Autonomous Driving Research: E2E Evolution towards the VLA Paradigm via Synergy of Reinforcement Learning and World Models??The essence of end-to-end autonomous driving lies in mimicking dr...
Research Report on OEMs and Tier1s’ Intelligent Cockpit Platforms (Hardware & Software) and Supply Chain Construction Strategies, 2025
Research on intelligent cockpit platforms: in the first year of mass production of L3 AI cockpits, the supply chain accelerates deployment of new products
An intelligent cockpit platform primarily r...
Automotive EMS and ECU Industry Report, 2025
Research on automotive EMS: Analysis on the incremental logic of more than 40 types of automotive ECUs and EMS market segments
In this report, we divide automotive ECUs into five major categories (in...