The Future of Automotive HVAC Technology: A Conversation with Evan Cloutier

Automotive HVAC systems are used for controlling the climate and temperature of the cabin of the vehicle. According to a comprehensive market analysis and industry forecast published by Allied Market Research, the automotive HVAC market is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate of 8.9 percent during the six-year period between 2016 to 2022—a projected $22.8 billion by 2022.

Air conditioning in vehicles can be traced all the way back to 1939, when car company Packard first installed a manual climate control in one of their models. Though it was rudimentary by today’s standards, it eventually led other companies to innovate and build their own proto HVAC systems. Chrysler unveiled its own prototypical system in 1953, which was followed by the Nash Ambassador in 1954—the first true automotive HVAC system.

Evan Cloutier, an automotive HVAC technician at Sun Automotive in Springfield, Oregon, spoke with us about the ins and outs of the industry, as well as offering a break down of what automotive HVAC entails.

“HVAC has to deal with the whole heating and cooling system of the vehicle, of the interior of the vehicle,” says Cloutier. “It’s creature comfort. That’s going to be the heat out of your vents, defrost, and your air conditioning.” Its three subsystems of heating, cooling, and air conditioning work in tandem to make sure that customers have the utmost control over the climate of their cabin and are provided clean air via ventilation. Monitoring systems of sensors help the vehicle’s central processing unit relay diagnostic information to dashboard display.

Other functions of HVAC systems in vehicles include a thermostat regulating temperature, and sensors that control moisture and humidity values in your car’s cabin. Other common features include thermal systems control, seat- and location-specific heating and cooling, and automatic defrost settings utilizing fogging sensors. The individual systemic components in automotive HVAC systems include the evaporator, condenser, compressor, expansion device, receiver, and drier.

In the 21st century, a significant portion of automotive HVAC market growth is driven by the yearly introduction of new features and creature comforts, in addition to greater concern for sustainability and energy efficiency. Technologically, automotive HVAC is divided into the categories of manual and automatic. When looking at HVAC market segmentation, two distinctions are made between vehicles: passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. The commercial category is further subdivided into LCV (light commercial vehicles) and HCV (heavy commercial vehicles).

Along with the previously mentioned report from Allied Market Research, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent figures on the rise of the automotive HVAC industry paint a picture of a field ripe with opportunity. As HVAC systems develop parallel to new, greener technologies, the demand will undoubtedly increase for features once considered luxurious or non-essential. The usage of personal vehicles has also shown no sign of letting up, meaning that a commensurate growth rate for the number of standard automotive HVAC features will almost certainly emerge.

“That’s part of the programming that’s built into most of these newer computers,” says Cloutier. “This is meant to save energy. It’s a fuel consumption thing. If the motor’s not running at a stoplight, you’re not consuming any fuel. Start-stop technology is one of the leading things in our industry, and it has changed a lot of the way we do business.”

Due to the projected growth of the American middle class and related income levels per capita, more and more consumers are concerned with comfort than ever before. In fact, the time spent in cars by Americans totaled 70 billion hours in 2018, so it should come as no surprise that in these economic circumstances HVAC in cars will also trend upwards. This trend typically results in more funding for research and development to augment or enhance fuel and chemical usage. This is spurred on largely in part by planetwide initiatives to educate the populace about ways to lessen their reliance on outdated and wasteful system, which will ideally lead to further efficiency-centric policy making for the energy sector.

As it currently stands, North America and Latin America lead the world in automotive HVAC production and innovation. In recent years, automobile manufacturing companies have begun to expand their portfolios, acquiring a wide variety of companies, expanding manufacturing facilities, and investing capital in lobbying and ad campaigns to increase awareness about the

As data documenting a rise in annual global temperature mounts, it seems to suggest that more control over the ambient temperature inside passenger and commercial vehicles will come to be the focus of the auto HVAC features market. Additionally, the introduction of more environmentally-friendly and sustainable refrigerants and coolants helps to drive the demand for systems that better utilize them.