When it comes to developing components for commercial vehicles, engineers like to make use of the expertise and economies of scale of the passenger car sector. For example, ZF also uses the technology of permanent magnet synchronous motors, hairpins, and inverters that are familiar from passenger cars for buses and trucks. In our ATZ interview, Dr. Andreas Grossl explains why electrification also includes the compressor, the steering system, power take-offs, and the trailer, and how to reduce the number of gears from 16 to three.
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Grossl (born in 1972) has been Vice President for the Global Product Segment E-Mobility Driveline Commercial Vehicles at ZF in Friedrichshafen since January 2022, coinciding with the establishment of the new Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) Division. After graduating in mechanical engineering at Graz University of Technology (Austria), he completed his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich in 1999 on "The influence of PVD coatings on the flank and root load-bearing capacity of case-hardened spur gears". After an initial post in industry, Grossl joined ZF in 2010 as Senior Manager Engineering Commercial Vehicle Axles in the Axles and Transmissions Business Unit for buses and coaches. From 2015 to 2018, Grossl was Director Product Center Axle Systems for buses and coaches, and from 2019 to 2021 he was Vice President Axles, Transmissions, and Electric Drive Systems for buses and coaches.
