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After volume production of the CeTrax lite electric drive for light commercial vehicles started in April 2023, ZF has already produced its first thousand units. The ramp-up in volume production was steeper than planned because demand from the customer ISUZU increased. The drive is used by ISUZU to power the latest generation its light distributor truck, the ISUZU ELF EV. Further volume production is set to start imminently this year.
ZF continues its pursuit of Next Generation Mobility across passenger car as well as the spectrum of light, medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles with a planned $500 million investment in its Gray Court, South Carolina, facility. Offering everything from traditional ICE to e-mobility technologies, for both passenger car and commercial vehicle applications, ZF Gray Court is officially the company’s first North American flex manufacturing facility.
ZF has produced more than three million electric motors, a technology that is used worldwide in electric vehicles. ZF covers a broad spectrum of vehicle electrification: from purely electrically powered passenger cars and plug-in hybrids to electric drives for commercial vehicles. The production anniversary stands for a continuous reduction in the dependency on pure combustion engines as well as for the successful transformation to electromobility.
ZF honors seven of its global suppliers for their excellent performance. The ZF Supplier Awards are presented as part of the Group-wide Global Supplier Summit, which this year focuses primarily on sustainability. At the virtual conference, around 1,000 participants from all over the world gain an insight into the technology group's corporate strategy, new technologies and the resulting new requirements and challenges relating to purchasing and logistics.
ZF recently introduced the new AxTrax 2 LF electric portal axle for low-floor city buses. The new axle represents ZF’s latest e-Mobility evolution, offering improved performance to further support the commercial vehicle industry’s transformation towards a more sustainable future. The series production of AxTrax 2 LF is set to commence in 2025.
ZF has developed an electric motor which does not require magnets. In contrast to the magnet-free concepts of so-called separately excited synchronous motors (SESM) already available today, ZF’s I2SM (In-Rotor Inductive-Excited Synchronous Motor) transmits the energy for the magnetic field via an inductive exciter inside the rotor shaft. This makes the motor uniquely compact with maximum power and torque density.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF Group), one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, and Hon Hai Technology Group (“Foxconn”), the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, recently announced a 50-50 partnership in passenger car chassis systems, a key move aimed at accelerating and expanding automotive and supply chain opportunities with top-tier customers.
ZF recently unveiled its self-developed thermal management system for electric vehicles at its annual Global Technology Day demonstration event. The new system not only offers a more compact design of the drive but can also increase the range of vehicles in winter by up to one third. In combination with an optimized electric drivetrain consisting of power electronics, motor and reduction gearbox based on 800-volt silicon carbide, the system sets new standards in compactness and weight. The newly developed powertrain software also makes a significant contribution to higher efficiency.
Electrification is changing the automotive industry wholesale. This online article looks at training and transmission technology courses available in the e-mobility sector today. Coursework includes examining gearbox structure to battery technology to health and safety issues. This expansion continues to prepare engineers, manufacturers, and technicians for the shift toward electric vehicles.
ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division has further underlined its commitment to advancing ‘Next Generation Mobility’ by investing in cutting-edge 5G digital connectivity. Equipping its commercial vehicle test track at Jeversen, Germany, with its own powerful campus network enables enhanced testing of ‘Big Data’ backed solutions which are increasingly facilitating the next levels of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Transportation as a Service (TaaS).