Gentherm Incorporated

Gentherm Incorporated, formerly called Amerigon, created the first thermoelectrically heated and cooled seat system for the automotive industry. Called the "Climate Control Seat" system, it was first adopted by the Ford Motor Company and introduced as an option on the model year 2000 Lincoln Navigator in 1999. Today it is available on more than 50 vehicles sold by Ford,[1] General Motors,[2] Toyota[1] (Lexus), Kia,[3] Hyundai,[1] Nissan[1] (Infinity), Range Rover and Jaguar Land Rover.

The company today is a developer and marketer of thermal management technologies for heating and cooling and temperature control devices for a variety of industries.[4]

Gentherm is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol THRM and is headquartered in Northville, MI.[5] Gentherm’s thermoelectric technologies are based on the Peltier Effect, the 1834 discovery that passing an electrical current through a sandwich of two dissimilar metals will make them hot on one side and cold (the lack of heat) on the other.[6]

Since 2005, Gentherm has been partnering with BMW[7] and Ford[7] on a project that is backed by the U.S. Department of Energy[7][8][9] focused on the development of an automotive thermoelectric generator (ATEG) that converts waste exhaust heat into electrical power based on the Seebeck Effect.[10] A prototype of the ATEG was named one of the most promising innovations for 2012 by Car and Driver magazine.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Oberweis, Jim. “Four Small Stock Innovators Finding Riches in Niches”, Forbes.com, 4 April 2012.
  2. ↑ St. Antoine, Arthur. “Backdraft. Troubled by gas? Try cooling your fanny”, Motor Trend, Page 28, September 2006. www.motortrend.com.
  3. ↑ “Heated and ventilated seat system for the 2011 Kia Sportage”, “Auto-Power-Girl Blog”, 13 May 2010.
  4. ↑ GS Analytics. “Will Gentherm Be Able To Leverage Benefit of W.E.T. Integration and Investments in New Electronic Business”, Seeking Alpha. 8 September 2013. Retrieved on September 26, 2013.
  5. ↑ Kosdrosky, Terry. “Amerigon’s Potential Raises Its Profile”, The Wall Street Journal New York, 5 April 2006.
  6. ↑ O’Dell, John. “Want Cool Air? Take a Seat”, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 18 July 2001. Highway 1, G1-2.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 “Gentherm to adapt passenger-car thermoelectric generator to heavy vehicles“, SAE Vehicle Engineering, Warrendale, PA, 1 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Laird, Lorelei. “Could TEG improve your car's efficiency?”. DOE Energy Blog. August 16, 2010]
  9. ↑ “Researchers Try to Convert Car’s Exhaust Into Power”, Associated Press, 13 August 2008.
  10. ↑ Casey, Tina. “Car of the Future Will Run on Its Own Waste Energy”, "Clean Technica", 1 September 2009.
  11. ↑ “2012 10 Best: 10 Most Promising Future Technologies: Thermal Juice”, Car & Driver, December 2011.

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