Everything All-electric

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From bikes to buses: ZF offers electric drive solutions for almost all vehicle segments. Four examples.

Stefan Schrahe, August 14, 2017

Stefan Schrahe has been writing about everything four-wheeled for three decades now. In his leisure time, he enjoys traveling by bike - though he also prefers motorized ones.

Vision Zero – at ZF, this concept goes even further than a world without accidents. ZF has developed its own goal inspired by the "zero" concept, which pushes the envelope and is equally ambitious: a world in which vehicles no longer produce any emissions. This goal can only be achieved if all means of transport are powered by electricity. Therefore, ZF offers solutions for electric drives in almost all segments – from inner-city micromobility with bikes to drive solutions for electric buses. Four examples:

1. Cooperative project for developing microcars

ZF wants to play a part in shaping the growing market in electromobility and microcars. Therefore, ZF is planning a cooperative project with the companies Magura, BrakeForceOne (BFO) and Unicorn Energy. "With this, we aim to redefine electromobility in the micromobility sector with two, three and four-wheeler vehicles,” says Stefan Sommer, CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

No other supplier offers their customers so many solutions for electromobility from a single source as ZF does.

— Jörg Grotendorst, head of the E-Mobility Division

2. People and cargo movers

Autonomous, connected and therefore incredibly flexible e-shuttle vehicles will become increasingly important in urban hotspots in the future. To this end, ZF is working on a joint venture with e.GO Mobile AG. The aim of the new joint venture "e.GO Moove", based in Aachen, is to develop, produce and distribute an autonomous people and cargo mover.

3. mSTARS is the new star at ZF

Another highlight is the new, modular mSTARS rear axle kit (modular Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension). The new module with multi-link rear suspension includes an electric motor, transmission, differential and power electronics. "With mSTARS, our customers can respond extremely flexibly to various market requirements with just one body variant. These requirements could be for hybrid vehicles, vehicles driven by fuel cells or battery-powered vehicles as well as the classic all-wheel module," says Dr. Holger Klein, head of the Car Chassis Technology Division. ZF has already integrated the axle into its Vision Zero Vehicle and shows how quickly the change to high-performance electric or hybrid cars can be made. At 150 kilowatts (corresponds to around 204 HP), the electric motor offers more than enough power for all your day-to-day automobile needs – with zero local emissions.

mSTARS integrates the electric motor, transmission, differential and power electronics.

4. Electric traction for city buses

ZF has launched the electric portal axle AVE 130 for driving buses. Two water-cooled asynchronous traction motors sit on each wheel. The maximum torque amounts to two lots of 485 newton meters when firing up from a standstill. Due to the gear ratio, there is also an output torque of 2 x 11,000 newton meters on the wheels – no other electric drive for city buses currently provides this. This enormous traction is sufficient for powering even fully loaded articulated buses using one electrically driven axle alone.

The AVE 130 electric portal axle with two water-cooled asynchronous motors.

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Everything All-electric

1. Cooperative project for developing microcars

1. Cooperative project for developing microcars

2. People and cargo movers

2. People and cargo movers

3. mSTARS is the new star at ZF

3. mSTARS is the new star at ZF

4. Electric traction for city buses

4. Electric traction for city buses