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As many start-stop vehicles age out of warranty, your customers are beginning to ask questions about what’s best for their systems. Whether they have a true hybrid vehicle or a conventional powertrain, attention to the underhood condition of the belts can be the profitable answer for you as well as a safety check for your customers.

The first step is understanding the various types of technology powering your customers’ vehicles.

Micro HEV vehicles are powered by an internal combustion engine but use start/stop technology to shut down the engine at a complete stop.  Fuel efficiency is increased about 10% with these vehicles over non-hybrid.

Mild HEV vehicles are similar to Micro HEV, but the electric motor, alternator and battery pack are larger and play a greater role in the propulsion of the vehicle.  Typical fuel efficiency increase is about 20% to 25% greater than a non-hybrid.

Full HEV vehicles use an even larger electric motor, alternator and battery and can run in full electric mode. Fuel efficiency with Full HEV can increase up to 40% to 45% more than a non-hybrid vehicle.

The final level of hybrid vehicles on the road today are the Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).  The cars have a downsized engine and larger electrical components and a battery that can be charged via a charging station/plug. The vehicle runs solely on electrical power until the charge is depleted and the ICE engine takes over.

A number of these vehicles use Belt-Driven Starter Generator systems that require high strength, exact length belts and highly engineered bi-directional tensioners to carry the high loads of engine startup. These belts serve as a core component, providing increased fuel efficiency, smaller and virtually silent operation.

The correct belts meet or exceed the demanding OE performance requirements for each application. E-Start EMD Micro-V belts from Gates are made with a unique rubber compound, aramid cord reinforcements with a higher cord pack and adhesion gum. In simpler terms they are designed to handle the high forces needed to endure all the starts and stops of the engine.

Combined with this high-performance rubber compound, enhanced cord material and advanced adhesion technology, these components’ optimized belt thickness minimizes bending losses up to 40%. This helps increase fuel economy and reduce emissions,  offers high performance – delivering more than 600,000 starts; and has high strength and fatigue resistance to withstand loading from the start/stop systems.

The right belts for the right application are right for your customers – whatever they’re driving. For more information, visit Gates.com.

Thanks for watching.

This video is sponsored by The Group Training Academy.