The Eberspaecher Group turns 160 years old July 9, but feels its best years are still ahead.

“As a technology-driven company, we offer a broad product portfolio. This includes every type of drive system, as well as the option of further developing these outside the automotive environment,” said managing partner Martin Peters in a press release. “The transfer into new business areas opens up opportunities for long-term success in changing market conditions.”

Among the new technologies its pursuing is hydrogen. Eberspaecher is working with a Danish company on high-temperature electrolyzers, delivering two four-ton units at the beginning of June.

Purem by Eberspaecher is also working with a German start-up on the production of pressure vessels that enable the safe and cost-effective storage and transportation of the energy carrier. 

The company was founded in 1865 by Jakob Eberspaecher in a small tinsmith’s workshop, where he manufactured everyday items such as watering cans and gutters. The company’s breakthrough came in 1886 when it developed putty-free window glazing on sheet metal bars, which became popular in hall construction.

Eberspaecher entered the automotive industry in the 1930s during a global economic crisis. Around this time, vehicle heating systems were being developed. Eberspaecher began supplying pre-heaters and exhaust systems.

In the early 2000s, the company got into the vehicle electronics business growing nationally and internationally and establishing itself as a full-service provider of thermal management and electronics products.