Dana’s e-Valves combine the best of fluid and electronic controls

Sponsored by Dana

Dana brings together its expertise in hydraulics and fluid controls with TLX Technologies’ proven capabilities in control valves and electronics to deliver customized on-off and proportional fluid-routing e-Valves for electric vehicle applications.

The Rise of the e-Valve

e-Valves are not a new technology; however, with the acceleration of vehicle electrification, their popularity is skyrocketing, for a few reasons. First, to maintain safe fluid temperatures, electrified vehicles require thermal management system valves with dynamic control and faster response times than what wax-motor flow controls offer. If a battery is running hot, for example, time is of the essence and fast-responding flow control is critical. Second, conserving energy usage is crucial for extending the range of electrified vehicles. To achieve this, the most effective e-Valves do not require power to hold position.

Dana: Delivering e-Valves for 25 Years

Dana recognized early on the value that flow controls bring to the mobility industry and launched its first conventional valve program in 1996. For the last 25 years, the company has leveraged its expertise in hydraulics, flow control, and electrification to advance its e-Valve offering. Recently, Dana partnered with TLX, which designs and develops custom solenoid solutions, to infuse specialized electronic controls expertise, including fail-safe capability, into the e-Valve offering.

Together, Dana and TLX deliver custom proportional e-Valves that bring together the best in fluid and electronic controls for light- and commercial-vehicle segments. These precise, fast-acting e-Valves react to system needs and eliminate the need for power consumption to hold position, which contributes to extended vehicle range. All e-Valves are custom designed and built to the customer’s requirements. 

On-off e-Valves are customized for the application. Generally, larger on-off e-Valves for the commercial-vehicle market feature a piloted design that uses less copper, resulting in light and cost-effective valves. On-off e-Valves for automotive applications tend to feature a directly actuated design. These e-Valve designs offer packaging-friendly configurations that adopt to solenoid or motor actuation, with a fail-safe feature and the potential of no-power-consumption to hold position. 

The Dana Difference

Dana brings more than 25 years of experience in hydraulics control design. With full thermal management integration, Dana takes a system approach to flow controls and offers a packaging-friendly solution.

Dana is known for its ability to deliver customized solutions — cost effectively. The company can do so because of its unique modular design. By utilizing the same tooling for the core components on multiple platforms, Dana achieves faster turnarounds for prototypes and production, as well as lower costs for changeover — all benefits that bring added value to the e-Valve offering. 

Complete System Capabilities

While other e-Valve manufacturing companies often tout that they optimize for the whole system — Dana is putting that optimization into practice. The company is actively integrating valves and flow controls alongside key thermal management systems within electrified vehicles. 

Specifically, Dana brings together e-Motor cooling, power electronics cooling, and proportional e-Valves into a completely integrated thermal management system for e-Drive units. Engineered for seamless integration, these systems are a compact and packaging-friendly solution. By taking a full-system approach, Dana streamlines complexities — for example, optimizing and reducing the usage of connections and hoses to place parts in closer proximity, leading to improved energy efficiency and weight reduction. The company is known for collaborating closely with customers to develop a system that is optimized to meet their unique needs.

A Smart Choice 

As OEMs continue their shift towards vehicle electrification, they are going to need partners that have specialized solutions designed to deliver superior performance in electrified applications. Together, Dana’s history and expertise in hydraulics and fluid controls combined with TLX’s specialization in valves and electronics controls make the company a smart choice for e-Valve production. 

Learn more about how Dana is leading the charge in vehicle electrification at Dana.com.

Sponsored by Dana