“Even in our original equipment business, we always keep the aftermarket in mind from the very beginning,” explained Philipp Grosse Kleimann, Member of the MAHLE Management Board and Head of the Lifecycle and Mobility business unit, in a recent interview.
As a development partner to the world’s leading passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers, MAHLE is already working on programs that will reach the market several years from now. This early insight into manufacturers’ product pipelines provides valuable expertise and a significant knowledge advantage for the replacement parts and service business.
There is no doubt that the growing adoption of electric mobility will have a significant impact on workshop operations. Reduced wear-and-tear related business, declining revenue from engine oil services, and changing maintenance intervals are creating uncertainty across parts of the automotive service industry. While vehicles powered by internal combustion engines still account for a large share of workshop business today, this vehicle population is finite and will gradually decline in the years ahead.
“By the end of the decade, around one in five vehicles on Europe’s roads could be electrically powered, including plug-in hybrids,” said Grosse Kleimann.
Summary
The international experience gained in the original equipment business for internal combustion engine and electric vehicles also strengthens system expertise in the aftermarket. A broad portfolio of service solutions demonstrates this capability.
This segment, however, is particularly relevant for the independent aftermarket. Many vehicles come off lease after three years and change ownership.
“At that point, reliable information on battery health becomes essential. This is why we continue to expand our BatteryPRO® product family for battery diagnostics in electric vehicles as part of our workshop equipment portfolio,” explains Grosse Kleimann.
Under the BatteryPRO® umbrella, MAHLE combines its products and services for the diagnosis and maintenance of electric vehicles. The portfolio includes the E-Scan function integrated into the MAHLE TechPRO® 2 diagnostic tool, the E-HEALTH Charge service unit for determining the State of Health (SoH) of the traction battery, and E-CARE Fluid for servicing thermal management systems.
The E-Scan function enables workshops to quickly access the battery status and provides initial insights into potential damage to high-voltage batteries, without having to take the vehicle for a test drive. The system reads the State of Health (SoH) and other relevant parameters via the OBD interface and evaluates them based on the vehicle manufacturers’ original data. The E-Scan software function is already available on all MAHLE TechPRO diagnostic devices. MAHLE has received the “Battery Health Check CARA Approved” certification for its battery diagnostic function. The European Used Car Dealers Association (CARA) thereby confirms that the MAHLE assessment of SoH meets European quality standards.
The E-HEALTH Charge battery diagnostic solution from MAHLE enables every workshop to calculate the SoH and remaining performance capacity of the high-voltage battery regardless of the manufacturer and based on data collected during the measurement process. The goal is to use a defined method to determine precise, objective, and comparable values. The vehicle does not need to be moved during the process. Determining the SoH value takes only about 20 minutes in total. During this process, the battery is charged according to a specific pattern using different charging rates. The diagnostic system, which combines the charging process and battery diagnostics in a single operation, consists of the E-CHARGE 20 battery charger and the associated E-HEALTH application in TechPRO. E-CHARGE 20 has a charging power of 20 kilowatts and can, regardless of the diagnosis, also be used as a standalone charger for fully electric vehicles. To evaluate the data collected by the charger and the OBD interface, MAHLE collaborates with battery specialist Volytica Diagnostics.
The E-CARE Fluid service unit was developed for the maintenance of cooling circuits in vehicles of all drive types. The system enables the coolant circuit to be fully automatically drained, tested, and refilled after work on the high-voltage battery or the cooling system. Integrated vacuum and pressure tests also allow for reliable leak testing. E-CARE Fluid is designed for all common coolants and thus specifically addresses the high requirements of electric and hybrid vehicles. Two separate tanks enable both the reuse of the drained coolant and automated mixing according to manufacturer specifications, supplemented by a cleaning process to remove contaminants.
As a leading supplier, MAHLE offers a broad portfolio of solutions for the automotive industry, which extends far beyond traditional internal combustion engine technologies. The Stuttgart-based technology group invests 5.4 percent of its revenue in research and development and is driving numerous innovations, particularly in the areas of electric drivetrains and smart charging solutions. Another key focus is on system expertise in thermal management. Among the latest product innovations is a range extender system that can increase the range of electric vehicles to up to 1,350 kilometers (WLTP). At its heart is a high-voltage generator with an efficiency of over 97 percent, which is combined with an internal combustion engine. The engine achieves an efficiency of over 42 percent, utilizing technologies such as MAHLE Jet Ignition, turbocharging, and Miller cycle timing. In addition, MAHLE has developed a new thermal management module based on an integrated heat pump that increases the range of battery-electric vehicles by up to 20 percent compared to systems with electric heaters. The compact module combines an air conditioning compressor, heat exchanger, pumps, sensors, and valves into a single unit, making it possible to reduce the number of coolant pumps in the vehicle from four to three.
The Chinese market is becoming increasingly important. For this reason, MAHLE works closely with vehicle and engine manufacturers in China as well as with leading Chinese OEMs. Products are developed and manufactured for both the local Chinese market and the rest of the world. MAHLE CEO Arnd Franz made this clear at the most recent earnings press conference: “China is and will remain one of our strategic cornerstones and our largest single market.” Like India, China is proving to be a key growth market – particularly in the field of New Energy Vehicles (NEV), where the Stuttgart-based company sees growth prospects in electrification and thermal management. The aftermarket business also benefits from these close relationships with Chinese manufacturers. At Automechanika Shanghai 2025, the MAHLE aftermarket business presented a whole range of NEV solutions (New Energy Vehicles), including charging stations and integrated thermal management solutions such as an 800-volt electric compressor.
In addition to its workshop equipment business, MAHLE develops numerous electric vehicle components for the replacement parts market. The first products are input filters and onboard chargers. Both components are derived directly from MAHLE original equipment production. According to MAHLE, additional power electronics and high-voltage components are set to follow. Input filters protect the high-voltage battery as well as the power and charging electronics from voltage spikes or unwanted signals during charging. Onboard chargers convert alternating current (AC) from the power grid into direct current (DC) so that it can be stored in the high-voltage battery. High-voltage components, like all other electrical and electronic components, are subject to wear and tear caused by aging, vibrations, moisture ingress, or overheating. Therefore, their importance in the replacement parts and service business will grow significantly.
MAHLE takes a holistic approach to electrification, which also includes the topic of charging. To electrify large areas such as parking lots or underground garages efficiently and cost-effectively, the subsidiary MAHLE chargeBIG has developed a modular charging solution. At its heart is the chargeCluster, a central distribution station that manages between two and 36 charging points, depending on the model (S, M, or L). The compact charging points (“SmallBOX”) can be flexibly integrated and offer 22 kW three-phase AC charging. To avoid peak loads, the chargeCluster can also be adapted to the maximum usable power of the facility. The product line is complemented by the smallBOX Portable: This mobile charging solution requires only a power line rated up to 63 amps, which is connected to the bottom of the housing, and offers four charging points, each with up to 22 kW, ideal for flexible workshop use.
In many devices at home, wireless charging is already the norm: Electric toothbrushes can be charged wirelessly, and smartphones can already be charged without a cable connection. This could soon be possible for electric cars as well. The Stuttgart-based automotive supplier MAHLE has been working on this topic for some time and is collaborating with partners from industry and research circles. The U.S. standardization organization SAE International selected the MAHLE Differential Inductive Positioning System (DIPS) as the global standard solution for wireless charging. The MAHLE inductive charging system works across all manufacturers. The principle is based on a permanently installed floor plate and a vehicle component integrated into the underbody of the vehicle. The patented positioning system ensures that the vehicle is precisely aligned over the charging unit. Systems that provide convenient contactless charging technology will form the technological foundation for automated parking and charging solutions in the future.