03/07/2019 | Press release

Pierburg GmbH, a member of the Technology Group Rheinmetall, has now produced its millionth electric vacuum pump at the Hartha location. The in-house development has been manufactured locally since its market launch in 2017 and has been one of Hartha's success products ever since.

Electric vacuum pumps are particularly compact and powerful and used in hybrids and modern electric vehicles as well as in vehicles with conventional drivelines. Especially for today's downsized gasoline engines, the small pumps are indispensable since they always guarantee an adequate vacuum level, for example for boosting braking power.

"From the very beginning, we were very proud for us to market launch such a promising product, one that is still with us," reports plant manager Mario Schäfer. "We are all the more pleased today to have crossed the million threshold. This production record is helping to consolidate sales and employment in Hartha."

Chinese automobile manufacturers are also showing keen interest in the electric pumps, and in addition to Saxony, they are currently coming on stream at a Chinese joint venture plant, Pierburg Huayu Pump Technology, for deliveries to the local market.

Electric vacuum pumps

Mechanical vacuum pumps, which are directly coupled to the combustion engine, are cost-effective, but have the disadvantage that they run continuously even when not needed. The electric vacuum pump, on the other hand, switches off when the brakes are not applied, thus reducing fuel consumption and hence harmful emissions.

Michael Rombach, Head of Product Development for Vacuum Pumps, comments: "The further development of vehicle systems is progressing rapidly, so that as early as 2014 we started to expand our portfolio of vacuum pumps with an electric version, the EVP40, which is being built in Hartha. Spurred on by the success of this model, we will continue to follow and shape the trend towards intelligent electric pumps with our current developments".

Pierburg has been developing vacuum pumps for brake boosters for decades and has also used this expertise for the development and design of the electric version. Particular emphasis has been placed on reliability and longevity, since vehicle performance must be guaranteed at all times and the braking system in particular has the highest priority.

from left to right: Robert Schwär (Leiter Abteilung Mini Factory 3), Christian Mootz (Einrichter Abteilung Mini Factory 3), Sebastian Heyna (Arbeitsvorbereiter Abteilung Minifactory 3), Thomas Horn (Einrichter Abteilung Mini Factory 3)