Automotive News selects 25 finalists for PACE Awards

Innovative solutions in electric vehicles, advanced safety systems and transmissions are among the 25 products named as finalists for the Automotive News PACE Award, now in its 30th year.

The awards are given to suppliers in recognition of a technological innovation in product or process that has reached the commercial market.

Judges will review the innovations, produced by 23 companies and their teams in five countries, to determine the winners. Awards will be handed out in April at a ceremony in metro Detroit.

In addition to the PACE Award finalists, 22 products were chosen as finalists for the annual Automotive News PACE Pilot recognition, which recognize pre-commercial and post-pilot innovations in the automotive or future mobility spaces, including products, processes, software and IT systems.

Finalists for the PACE Award and their innovations are:

Zhejiang, China
High-performance drive hybrid platform technology

Rochester Hills, Mich.
Electric tonneau cover for pickup bed — stacking system

Torino, Italy
Modular high-performance hybrid eight-speed dual clutch transmission

Toledo, Ohio
Shape memory actuator electronic expansion valve

Shanghai, China
Jupiter compute platform

Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Backup DC/DC converter

Auburn Hills, Mich.
NAFILean-R

Daejeon, South Korea
VR-LED photocatalyst for air disinfection

Seoul
ADAS-linked ADB (AADB) Predictive Control System

Southfield, Mich.
Zone Control module featuring algorithmic circuit protection

Orlando
Iris long-range lidar

Lockport, N.Y.
New high-performance HVAC module and system

Udine, Italy
Digital OLED taillight

Aachen, Germany
World premiere of second-generation Atala OLED technology in the new Audi Q6 e-tron

Troy, Mich.
High-efficiency rear-wheel steering system

Wooster, Ohio
Schaeffler Multi-Mode clutch

Attleboro, Mass.
Sensata Modular Contactor — Achieving unparalleled short circuit performance with a novel contractor mechanism

Hannover, Germany
SikaSeal-832 — A new acoustic, pumpable foam technology to enable automation and higher design flexibility

Plymouth, Mich.
TraX commercial vehicle wheel-end monitoring system

Santa Clara, Calif.
SoundHound Chat AI Automotive

Rochester Hills, Mich.
Modular coolant control valve

Longview, Texas
Auto-Torq axle fastener

San Francisco, Calif.
Reliable, high-integrity lane-level positioning to unlock functionally safe Level 3 autonomous driving systems at automotive scale

St. Louis
WarrCloud - automatic warranty processing

Plymouth, Mich.
Webasto PHC technology

Troy, Mich.
Aptiv path predictor

Troy, Mich.
Radar AI/machine learning

Detroit
Innovative 3D-printed WLAM BPillar steel insert

Auburn Hills, Mich.
Autoliv's Bernoulli airbag module

Troy, Mich.
Axalta NextJet

Northville, Mich.
eCoFlow Switch Pump — integrated coolant pump/valve

Northville, Mich.
Thermoplastic body door seal

Munich
Enabling EVs with more than 800 kilometers range at much lower costs

Edinburgh, U.K.
Evolving batteries: Dukosi cell monitoring system

Southfield, Mich.
EcoProBooth

Farmington Hills, Mich.
xCognition, a Cognitive AI brain for automation

Southfield, Mich.
AI-based convolutional neural network with thermal sensing

Troy, Mich.
Magna's One-Piece Tub Battery Enclosure

Troy, Mich.
Magna SmartAccess B-Pillarless power door system

Milan
Fully active electromechanical suspension

Folsom, Calif.
Industry's first automotive solid-state drive with four ports and single-root input/output virtualization

Ulm, Germany
Scantinel Photonics' FMCW LiDAR Module on Chip

Attleboro, Mass.
 Fuel cell vehicle pressure sensing solutions

Valbonne, France
OLEA U310

Sunnyvale, Calif.
Comprehensive over-the-air update solution for software-defined vehicles

Brussels
PEEK slot liners improve efficiency & system cost

Verona, Italy
Innovative CO2 evaporator/chiller

Northville, Mich.
ZF Annotate (ADAS/AD accelerated validation tool)