Bosch Engineering and Inteva Products have signed on to develop the electrical architecture and cockpit of Carbon Motors' E7 patrol car.

Bosch Engineering will lead the development of the electrical architecture for the Carbon E7 including integrating key aspects of the law enforcement vehicle such as emergency lights, communications equipment, WMD threat detection capabilities, automatic license plate recognition systems, radar, and sirens as well as Carbon's own proprietary On-Board Rapid Command Architecture (ORCA).

Law enforcement components are usually retrofitted to existing retail passenger cars in a process known as upfitting. In contrast, Carbon Motors is integrating these elements and others into the original design of a purpose-built vehicle to enhance officer safety, improve ergonomics, reduce vehicle down-time, and reduce overall repair costs.

"Carbon Motors is delighted to announce Bosch as its partner in key areas of the Carbon E7's development," said Trevor Rudderham, executive vice president and chief development officer. "Dependable and reliable electrical function in law enforcement vehicles is a critical requirement for our first-responders."

Designing the electrical architecture for a police vehicle from the ground up is a challenge well-suited to the Bosch team, according to Keith Andrews, president of Bosch Engineering North America.

"Bosch has an in-depth understanding of automotive systems, and we are applying that knowledge to ensure the systems of the Carbon E7 communicate with one another while reducing complexity and improving functionality," said Andrews. "Knowing the importance of the end user and the critical job they do gives this project even greater meaning and purpose for our team."

Carbon Motors is also partnering with Inteva Products on the interior design and development of the Carbon E7. Inteva has an excellent track record in high-quality interior systems and also brings extensive experience in development for arduous usage and high mileage applications, such as Class 8 trucks. This level of durability is key to ensuring the longer and less expensive life cycle costs for taxpayers and the law enforcement customer, according to Carbon Motors.

"Inteva is proud to be a part be a part of the Carbon Motors team," said Lon Offenbacher, Inteva's chief executive officer. "We are confident together we can provide better, more robust, high performance solutions to our law enforcement first responders, while supplying products that are environmentally friendly."