An automobile with a construct and components with an appearance of an airplane. The back seats, and optionally the front seats, are bench style, with armrests that may be rotated out of position and located at opposing sides of the seat when the seat is a two-person bench. For a three-person bench, there are intermediate armrests. The airplane-type seats include headrests integrated into the seat rather than being extendible from the top of the seat. The bench seat is removably affixed to an underlying support substrate, which may be substantially hollow and arranged to enable access to storage within the support substrate. The interior of the automobile of the present invention includes controllable lighting and air located above the passenger's head, either directly or to the side above a window. An instrument and control panel that supplies the driver with information and control expected for an automobile is configured with the appearance and content of an instrument and control panel a pilot would expect to see in an airplane. Controls are positioned sufficiently close to the driver to be accessed and employed as needed. Wheels of the automobile of the present invention are designed to give the appearance of the stators or rotors of an airplane jet engine.

An operator control unit for a steering wheel and a steering wheel having such an operator control unit. The operating control unit having a housing which is insertable into a steering wheel spoke of the steering wheel and which has at least one housing side wall and a housing base, having an electrical contact element provided in the housing, and having at least one actuating element which is mounted movably on the housing and which acts with an electrical switching action on the contact element. In order to extend the functionality of the operator control unit but maintain the compact structural form, it is proposed that the operator control unit have a fan for a steering wheel temperature control arrangement and a flow channel which is acted on by the fan, which flow channel is formed by the housing base and has an inlet and outlet opening on the housing.

Methods and systems for providing multi-zone climate control for a vehicle. One system includes a power source, a plurality of switches, a first zone heating/cooling device, a second zone heating/cooling device, and an electronic controller. The electronic controller is configured to operate the plurality of switches to supply current bi-directionally through the first zone heating/cooling device, bi-directionally through the second zone heating/cooling device, or bi-directionally through a series connection of the first zone heating/cooling device and the second zone heating/cooling device.

An electric power-steering control device has a substrate, a heat-generating component, and a heat-storing body. The heat-generating component is disposed on one surface of the substrate and generates heat when activated. The heat-storing body is capable of storing the heat from the heat-generating components. The heat-storing body has a main body having a rectangular plate shape and disposed on the one surface of the substrate. The heat-storing body has a notch section or a recess section.

A vehicle includes a steering column, a radiant heater arranged in the steering column and configured to radiate radiant heat toward an area below the steering column, an instrument panel that defines part of an opening where the steering column passes and that extends in a lateral direction of the vehicle, an inside air sensor adjoining the opening in the instrument panel and configured to detect an indoor temperature of the vehicle, and a lower cover arranged below the steering column and defining the opening together with the instrument panel. At least the instrument panel or the lower cover includes a shielding wall positioned between the radiant heater and the inside air sensor.

A vehicle air conditioner includes: a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant circulates; a high-temperature cycle in which a first heat medium in liquid form heated by the refrigeration cycle circulates; a low-temperature cycle in which a second heat medium in liquid form cooled by the refrigeration cycle circulates; and a seat that is provided in a vehicle interior and has a warm flow passage and a cold flow passage disposed close to each other. The warm flow passage is provided on the route of the high-temperature cycle, and the cold flow passage is provided on the route of the low-temperature cycle.

A method for activating a pre acclimatization system of the passenger compartment of a vehicle includes monitoring an operational state of the vehicle, including a first state in which the vehicle is on and a second state in which the vehicle is off. In the second state, the method includes monitoring a plurality of conditions, the conditions selected from a group including current time and date, a driver appointment schedule, a historical database, wherein the monitoring step is performed by a system controller incorporated into the vehicle. The method further includes determining the most probable time of departure of the vehicle from a present location based on the plurality of conditions monitored by the system controller, suggesting time of departure to the driver, monitoring reply from the driver, setting timer for activating the pre acclimatization according to reply from the driver, and activating sleep mode for the vehicle systems.

An air conditioning system for a vehicle that air conditions a vehicle cabin before a user gets into a vehicle, in which the air conditioning system strongly air conditions the vehicle cabin by increasing an air conditioning output for a predetermined period after the user gets into the vehicle.

A steering module includes a steering wheel which is provided in front of a driver seat, a column cover which is provided on a vehicle front side of the steering wheel, extends in a forward and rearward direction of a vehicle, and has a functional component mounting region in at least one of an inner inside and an upper portion thereof, and a meter member which is formed integrally with the column cover and includes a main display portion disposed at a position spaced apart from the column cover.

A vehicle microclimate system includes a microclimate device that is configured to be arranged within an interior space that provides a macroclimate environment to an occupant. The microclimate device is configured to provide a microclimate environment to the occupant. The microclimate device is configured to be in close proximity to a region of the occupant having an increased thermoreceptive response compared to other occupant regions exposed to the macroclimate environment. A controller is in communication with the microclimate device. The controller is configured to determine an occupant personal comfort and automatically command the microclimate device in response to the occupant personal comfort to achieve a desired occupant personal comfort.