Valeo Compact 5-way 냉매 밸브

Background Problem: Electric vehicles adopt heat pump systems to increase heating efficiency in winter, which requires multiple solenoid valves to control the refrigerant flow. Existing designs use four valves to switch between cooling and heating modes, resulting in a complex structure and large volume.

Limitations of Existing Methods: Multiple valves and check valves for air conditioning and heat pump modes increase the number of parts, leading to increased weight and cost, and more potential leak points. The numerous wires and connections also complicate assembly and increase the risk of failure. Electric vehicles have limited space, and this increase in parts acts as a design constraint.

Valeo's compact 5-way refrigerant valve is a multi-port valve that integrates the functions of three solenoid valves and one check valve into a single unit. By applying a rotary plate mechanism internally to electrically switch the refrigerant flow path, the air conditioner mode ↔ heat pump mode transition is smoothly achieved with a button signal.

This simplifies the system architecture by reducing the number of parts from 4 to 1 compared to the existing method, and significantly reduces wiring and piping between valves, increasing reliability. The compact, integrated design saves space in the vehicle and reduces weight, contributing to improved efficiency and increased driving range of the electric vehicle platform. In addition, the integration of parts reduces potential leak points and simplifies the assembly process, resulting in cost savings.

Valeo plans to integrate this valve into its smart heat pump module, which is expected to help automotive OEMs meet increasingly stringent thermal management efficiency regulations.

Automotive OEMs and thermal management system integrators (B2B). Vehicle manufacturers receive heat pump modules from Valeo and apply them to their vehicles, with the electric vehicle platform development team being the main decision-makers. In addition, other component manufacturers may adopt similar technologies in the HVAC component market, so Valeo's main focus is B2B sales directly to vehicle manufacturers.

This solution can be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles and is in demand in the global automotive market. Valeo has relationships with major global automakers, so large-scale adoption is expected, and mass production is scheduled to begin in September 2026 for application in actual vehicles.

Although not tied to specific regional regulations, adoption will accelerate as electric vehicle energy efficiency regulations (such as driving range in cold weather) become stricter in each country. In the future, similar concepts can be applied to other areas of the refrigeration and air conditioning industry (e.g., building HVAC) to simplify parts, but the focus is currently on automotive applications.

In the automotive industry, it is"an invisible innovation."It has been praised as such. Its technical excellence has been proven by winning the CES Innovation Award, and its mass production plan has been announced after durability and performance verification, so its completeness is also high.

Industry trade journals have described this valve as a "game changer in electric vehicle thermal management systems, reducing the number of parts to achieve both vehicle weight reduction and reliability" (Source: Company press releases and Marklines report). Market expectations are also very realistic as they are already reflected in actual OEM projects. There are no particular overestimation factors, and it is evaluated as a B2B item with relatively accurate demand forecasting.