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Automotive / Rail / Aerospace

Vehicle Cabin Heating

Printed surface heating foils for EV interiors, designed to place heat where passengers feel the difference.

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Vehicle Cabin Heating

Challenge

Electric vehicles produce no waste heat from the drivetrain. Conventional cabin heating via warm air is energy-intensive, slow during cold start and often constrained by defogging requirements that limit recirculation. At the same time, passengers do not experience comfort through air temperature alone: cold glass, trim surfaces, clothing, contact zones and radiant heat all influence the human thermal balance. Every watt consumed for cabin heating directly affects vehicle energy demand and range.

Our Solution

ATT combines printed interior surface heaters with Thermal Comfort Engineering: before defining heater power or placement, we evaluate which surfaces are most likely to create perceived passenger comfort in the target cabin scenario. Printed heaters integrate directly into soft surfaces such as leather, fabric or foam, or into hard plastic parts by back-injection molding. As area heaters rather than line heaters, they can warm larger surface fractions at lower core temperatures — while simulation helps determine the right heat, at the right surface, at the right time.

How It Works

1

Thermal Comfort Engineering

We evaluate the cabin scenario, passenger comfort target and relevant heat-transfer mechanisms — convection, contact heat and radiation — to identify where surface heating can create the strongest perceived comfort effect.

2

Heater Design & Printing

Silver or carbon PTC heater patterns are screen-printed on flexible substrates, precisely matched to your component shape. Power distribution is optimized for uniform surface temperature.

3

Component Integration

Soft surfaces: heater laminated onto fabric, leather or foam. Hard surfaces: heater foil inserted into injection mold and back-injected — connector created simultaneously via a process developed and patented by ATT.

4

Qualification & Series

Full automotive qualification including thermal cycling, humidity and mechanical stress tests. Series production with consistent quality from our in-house manufacturing facility.

Soft Surface Integration

  • Printed silver or PTC heaters laminated onto fabric, leather or foam
  • Area heaters (not line heaters) — large heated fraction, lower core temperature needed
  • Cost advantage: larger printed heaters significantly cheaper than wire equivalents
  • PTC variant: cannot exceed predefined max temperature, even with strong insulation

Hard Surface Integration

  • Heater printed on polycarbonate foil, inserted into tooling, back-injection molded
  • Becomes inseparable part of the plastic component
  • ATT patent: electrical connector produced simultaneously during molding
  • Applicable to dashboard, glove box, door trim, sun visor, pillars

Application Areas

Armrests & Centre Console

Soft-integrated heaters in leather or fabric armrests provide direct radiant warmth to the driver's and passenger's forearms — the body region most sensitive to cold perception.

Door Panels & Trim

Heated door panels and side trim eliminate the cold-wall effect in winter. Using back-injection molding, heaters become an invisible, inseparable part of the plastic component.

Dashboard & Glove Box

Instrument panel and glove box surfaces heated via back-injection molded foils. The large surface area enables effective radiant heating at low power density — maximizing range efficiency.

A / B / C-Pillars

Pillar heaters close the last thermal gaps in the cabin envelope. Combined with door, dashboard and seat heating, they enable a fully radiant cabin heating concept without reliance on air heating.

Technical Data

Integration (Soft) Fabric, leather, foam
Integration (Hard) Back-injection molding
Connector Patent: created during molding
Heater Types Silver / Carbon PTC
Comfort Modelling Thermophysiology + perception
PTC Feature Max temp physically limited
Thickness > 100 μm

Key Advantages

  • Radiant heat: instant comfort, no warm-up time, no buoyancy loss
  • Significant range advantage for EVs vs. conventional air heating
  • Thermal Comfort Engineering: predict where heat will actually be felt before hardware is built
  • One-stop-shop: comfort simulation, heater design, prototyping and manufacturing
  • Not limited to automotive — proven in rail and aerospace applications
  • 15+ years of passenger thermal comfort engineering experience
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Frequently Asked Questions

How does back-injection integration work and why is it important?
In back-injection integration, the printed heater foil is placed in the injection mold before the plastic is injected. The heating element becomes an inseparable part of the plastic component. Crucially, the electrical connector is created simultaneously during the molding process via a process developed and patented by ATT — eliminating a separate assembly step and improving reliability.
Why does ATT use Thermal Comfort Engineering for cabin heating?
A heated surface is only useful if the passenger feels the difference. ATT evaluates how air temperature, cold interior surfaces, clothing, contact heat, radiation and local body zones interact in a real cabin scenario. This helps identify which heated surfaces are worth developing before the hardware layout is finalized.
What is the difference between Silver and PTC heater variants?
Silver heaters provide linear resistance heating with precise, controllable power output. Carbon PTC heaters have a positive temperature coefficient — their resistance increases with temperature, causing them to self-regulate. PTC heaters cannot exceed a predefined maximum temperature even with strong insulation, making them inherently safe without external sensors or control circuits.
Can ATT heaters be integrated into existing interior components?
Yes. For soft surfaces (fabric, leather, foam), heaters are laminated onto the existing material stack — no design changes to the component. For hard surfaces, the back-injection process integrates heaters during your standard injection molding cycle. In both cases, integration is designed to fit your existing production processes.
Are ATT cabin heaters limited to automotive applications?
No. While the primary market is automotive (passenger cars, commercial vehicles), ATT surface heaters are also proven in rail vehicles and aerospace applications. The core technology — printed heating foils integrated into surfaces — is applicable wherever efficient, lightweight radiant heating is needed.
Is radiant surface heating always the best solution?
No. Radiant surface heating is most valuable when it is placed correctly and used in the right operating phase — for example during cold-start conditions when surrounding cabin surfaces are still cold. Thermal Comfort Engineering helps determine when surface heating, contact heating and HVAC airflow should each do their part.
How does ATT ensure consistent quality in series production?
ATT manufactures heaters in-house with process control over printing, temperature and electrical parameters. Each production batch undergoes electrical and thermal verification. For automotive projects, development can combine simulation, prototype testing, thermal validation and customer-specific qualification protocols.

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