At Global Technology Day 2023, ZF presented solutions from the areas of electric drives, vehicle networking and control that are designed to make electric vehicles more efficient and practical.
ZF CEO Dr. Holger Klein
ZF
ZF Friedrichshafen's portfolio in the field of electrification ranges from e-bikes to wind turbines, which the Group has now presented in the run-up to the IAA Mobility. For the first time, the engineers demonstrated the modular 800-V electric drive EVSys800, which sets standards in the areas of torque density, weight, package, and continuous power thanks to silicon carbide power electronics, a new winding technology, and a central thermal management system with an 800-V heat pump and propane as a refrigerant. Further details on the new drive, which has been integrated into the EVbeat prototype vehicle, can be found here.
Silicon carbide inverters are a key technology, according to ZF CEO Dr. Holger Klein. That is why the company has entered into a strategic partnership with U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed, which announced in February 2023 that it would build one of the largest production facilities for 200-mm wafers in Ensdorf, Saarland. Just three months later, the partners also announced the construction of a research center for silicon carbide technology in the Nuremberg area. In view of the supply bottlenecks for semiconductors, which have flattened out at the moment but have by no means been overcome, these are definitely important developments - especially with regard to delivery times and availability. According to Klein, speed is more important today than ever before, especially since development cycles have been shortened from two years to currently eight months.
Modular Electric Commercial Vehicle Drives
In the commercial vehicle sector, ZF offers the second generation of the Cetrax central drive and the Axtrax axle drive, which are to cover all relevant areas in single or dual versions. In addition, there is an electric axle for trailers as a stand-alone system which allows for the retrofit hybridization of practically all conventional tractors. Here, the use of the same interface and the same traction machines, and thus the highest possible scaling across all areas, is the key to cost efficiency.
Yet the transfer of technology goes much further. For example, ZF also uses its know-how from the driveline sector in one of its probably lesser-known fields of activity: Turbines for wind power plants with rotor outputs of three to 18 meganewtons. In order to achieve the quietest possible operation with these, the engineers of the company's Industrial division have made use of the knowledge of their driveline colleagues on a broad front. Business in this area is humming and, according to the engineers on site in Germany, is really only being held back by the sluggish expansion of wind power. ZF is also active at the other end of the performance scale with its Micromobility division, selling 48-V e-bike drives under the Sachs brand, among other products. In the coming year, the next generation is expected, which will clearly outshine the current one.
Chassis Technology and Software-Defined Vehicles
Another key area of activity is chassis technology, which will be bundled in the new Chassis Solutions business unit in 2024. It combines networked and electronically controlled (by-wire) components from the areas of braking, steering and damping systems with active safety technology and IT hardware and software infrastructure. The Cubix chassis software, for example, made its debut in the Lotus Eletre presented in early 2023. This networks and coordinates the active and semi-active actuators with a control algorithm and can be customized for specific manufacturers. The Smart Chassis Sensor collects chassis data - including on road conditions - and uploads it to a cloud, which opens up new business models, according to Holger Klein. And development is also very dynamic in the area of so-called middleware - the intermediary, so to speak, between the operating system of a vehicle computer and its software applications. Here, ZF is cooperating with the software developer KPIT Technologies, who want to jointly promote the establishment of an independent software company called QORIX.
These examples illustrate that ZF is vehemently shifting its business into the new mobility areas and has already made notable progress in the much-vaunted transformation. Digital solutions have a high priority, but the best software is of no use without good hardware, as Holger Klein put it. However, this is already much more strongly influenced by the area of electromobility than it was 10 years ago. During this period, the share of the company's revenue related to combustion engines has fallen from 60 to 17 %. In the future, ZF intends to continue playing in the premier league in the growth areas and seems well equipped to do so.
