In view of this development, the car-friendly city will soon be a concept of the past. But as mobility is a fundamental right, new concepts are in demand. The motto is to reorganize and align oneself with local conditions rather than impose bans. The worldwide city network “C40”, in which more than 90 mega-cities in the world exchange information on their mobility concepts, has also recognized this. A global trend is clearly discernible: Electromobility and zero-emission zones are the future. One of the pacemakers is the electrification of bus fleets, which play a decisive role in public transportation in every metropolis. For ZF CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider, this is an encouraging finding: “With the AxTrax AVE electric portal axle, ZF offers an electric drive solution that can be perfectly integrated into existing vehicle concepts and platforms.”
Technology
#VisionZero
Big cities with a big influence
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Urbanization is a megatrend, the influx into metropolitan areas remains unbroken worldwide – with negative consequences for air quality and quality of life. Only tailored concepts deliver an efficient contribution to climate protection. ZF offers a w
Reorganising mobility instead of banning it
Typification: Meeting the needs of different megacities
Typification: Meeting the needs of different megacities
In addition, the traffic problems in the various megacities are very different. In order to plan holistic mobility concepts on the one hand and to develop tailor-made matching products on the other, it makes sense to categorise them into four types of megacities:
- Space type A has a high population density in a comparatively small area with a high density of public transport offerings.
- Space type B is also densely populated, but has a high level of individual transport. Public transport is of lesser importance.
- Space type C describes an urban sprawl with a high share of public transport.
- Space type D is an urban sprawl with a high share of individual traffic.
It is obvious: For these very different types of cities, there can be no master solution for future mobility. That's why ZF developers are working on solutions which are adapted to the individual situation.
Robo-taxis for high density cities
Robo-taxis for high density cities
For space type A and cities such as Hong Kong, for example, the ZF People Mover is predestined, because car-based mobility offers will disappear from megacities of this type and will be replaced by robo-taxis. Over the next five to seven years, the demand for fully electric minibuses will grow to around one million vehicles per year worldwide.
An ideal basis for Robo-Taxis is the Intelligent Dynamic Driving Chassis (IDDC). The highly flexible platform for autonomous electric vehicles can see, think, and act with the help of
cameras
,
radar
and lidar sensors, the
ZF Pro AI
central computer, its
integrated braking system
, and
front
and
rear axle steering.
Micro-mobility with electric drive and ABS
Micro-mobility with electric drive and ABS
In cities of space type B – such as Bangkok – public transport is less prominent. Here, the focus is primarily on micro-E-mobility vehicles. Because ZF thinks about safety as well asabout zero emissions, the company has developed an electric drive system for bicycles and load bikes as well as an ABS system. The brake system only weighs 300 grams and generates 80 bar brake pressure.
Robo-taxis too are a useful addition for this type of city. They gain greater acceptance, if the driving experience is as pleasant as possible. To achieve this, longitudinal and lateral dynamics must be well coordinated. Because jerky acceleration, braking, or steering quickly diminish confidence in the computer chauffeur. With cubiX, ZF has therefore developed a unique networking technology that integrates numerous chassis systems. And if the active damping system sMOTION is on board, cubiX can even control the vertical dynamics – such as impacts from road unevenness – in robo-taxis.
In 2015, transport accounted for
23
percent
of all global CO₂ emissions.
Smart cable cars for rugged cities
Smart cable cars for rugged cities
In urban sprawl of the C space-type, public transport plays a central role. The example of Bogotá clearly shows that public transport does by no means need to take place on roads: In the Colombian capital, a 3.3-kilometer-long cable car is under construction which will connect an entire district of the city to the public bus network – thus giving many people access to public life. Public transportation systems like these can benefit from intelligent systems from ZF. Take La Paz (Bolivia), for example: There, light rail vehicles are equipped with ZF industrial transmissions, which will be equipped with the ZF
ProVID
performance management system from 2019. This enables remote diagnosis of the complete driveline system via the ZF cloud. This reduces maintenance and repair costs and avoids unnecessary downtime.
Plug-in hybrid transmissions reduce commuter emissions
Plug-in hybrid transmissions reduce commuter emissions
Space type D will not be able to benefit from this: For sprawling cities with heavy individual traffic such as Houston/Texas, it will be more important to drastically reduce consumption and emissions of conventional passenger cars. Technologies such as the ZF
8-Speed Hybrid Transmission
can play a central role here. With the integrated, 100 kilowatt (136 hp) electric motor, speeds of up to 140 km/h are possible without emissions and with ranges of 80 kilometers – depending on the battery capacity – can be realized. With this technology, commuters could for the most part, travel purely electrically – and thus, make a decisive contribution to achieving local air quality targets. At the same time, hybrid technology makes it possible to cover long distances as usual – thanks to the conventional combustion engine.
Sustainable and clean delivery van for the last mile
Sustainable and clean delivery van for the last mile
However, solving urban traffic problems is not just about transporting people. Constantly increasing e-commerce – trading via the Internet – has contributed to the fact that the transport of goods and merchandise is now responsible for 15 percent of local emissions. The
ZF Innovation Van
helps prevent parked vans from blocking roads. The fully electric delivery vehicle, equipped with autonomous Level 4 driving functions, can autonomously search for a parking space or drive up to the next delivery point even without a driver on board. This not only noticeably reduces the load on scarce traffic areas, but also on parcel carriers.
Wolf-Henning Scheider: “’Next Generation Mobility’ is not about the question of whether individual transport has a future or which type of mobility will prevail. If people and goods are to be mobile on a sustainable basis, existing conditions need to be built on to find an individually suitable solution. The right “modal split” and the networking of the various modes of transport will be the signatures of a new urban mobility. The routes to achieve this are manifold. ZF's solutions and technologies are geared to this diversity.”