PRODUCTS & SERVICES
Transformative tech
As mobility is changing, new technology is being created to offer automotive
OEMs the right solution to powerfully electrify a wide variety of vehicle classes
With tra ic volumes and
related pollution worsening
in cities around the world, personal
and public mobility solutions are
increasingly under the spotlight.
Driving restrictions in metropolitan
areas are being introduced as
legislators look for ways to solve
the poor air quality crisis and
measures are put in place to reduce
the numbers of combustion engine
vehicles globally. The result is
leaving service providers and a
number of vehicle owners having
to evaluate alternative mobility
solutions in terms of cost, usability
and availability.
Electrification of all powertrains
will contribute greatly to emission
reduction however, taking a rational
view of electric transportation shows
that fully-electric vehicles are not
the short-term solution, particularly
in terms of personal mobility.
In 2016, ZF formed a division
dedicated to e-mobility to provide
products and solutions for both the
hybridization of combustion engines
and full electric powertrains. Today it
is currently providing solutions that
are emission free. Until the
infrastructure for purely electric
drivetrains is in place, ZF believes
that a significant contribution to
emissions reduction can be made by
plug-in hybrid powertrain solutions
and expects strong market growth.
ZF’s modular approach to drive
solutions enables OEMs to convert
The trend towards electrifi cation and emission reduction affects a wide variety of transportation modes
160 // July 2019 // www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com
does work. The negative feedback
was largely due to limited adoption
across vehicle classes and an
electric driving range inadequate for
most people’s daily driving
requirements. ZF recommends a
hybrid powertrain should travel a
distance of 80–100km under battery
power alone between charges. This
is the range in which it believes
most daily journeys can be made.
ZF’s next generation of plug-in
hybrid technology, called EVplus,
consists of a transmission, hybrid
module and power electronics with
the electric motor. The technology
helps guarantee this purely electric
driving range and to significantly
reduce range anxiety, while also
achieving an improvement in terms
of CO emissions and costs when
compared to both BEVs and pure
internal combustion engines.
ZF’s current automatic and dual
clutch transmissions are helping to
drive the success of these plug-in,
chargeable vehicles. The plug-in
hybrid variants of transmissions
combine a combustion engine with
eight speeds with a compact,
powerful electric motor. The
compact electric motors installed in
the transmission housing have an
output of up to 100kW, which is the
equivalent of 137ps, which allows the
electric drive to reach speeds of up
to 140km/h (87mph).
With this technology, ZF can work
with an existing platform design to
deliver a short-term solution.
However, in the long term, there is
no doubt the future is electric.
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A modular approach to drive solutions
aids OEMs in easy conversion of ICE
platforms to hybrids
existing ICE platforms into hybrids
with only minimal design changes.
The latest generation of the
company’s best-selling 8HP
transmission can now be o ered as
a hybrid option and with the
8-speed dual-clutch transmission
(8DT), ZF has created a flexible
modular system especially for
front-longitudinal standard drives,
all-wheel drive as well as fuel and
emission-reducing hybrid drives.
Although first generation hybrid
drive systems were met with less
than rave reviews, the technology
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