Charged EVs | ZF’s new e-drives feature multiple innovations

ZF has introduced new electric drives with a modular and compact design for electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The new e-drives, which incorporate an electric motor, gearbox, power electronics and DC-DC converters, will be available on the market as a complete system starting in 2025, but the company will bring individual components into series production earlier. 

The power electronics include a discretely structured inverter with individual power semiconductor switches, which ZF says offers better performance scalability than is possible with complex power modules. ZF also says its “discrete package technology” requires fewer types of components than using conventional power modules.

The e-motor features a new cooling concept that allows oil to flow directly around the copper rods—the point at which most heat is generated during operation. ZF has increased continuous power to up to 85 percent of the peak power. ZF says the motor uses almost no heavy rare earths, and it features a braided winding technology that reduces required installation space by 10 percent.

A new coaxial reduction gearbox sports two integrated planetary gears that generate the desired axle ratio and include the fully integrated differential function. ZF says that, compared to common offset concepts, the new solution reduces weight and installation space requirements without compromising efficiency, noise or vibration.

ZF’s new high-voltage converter boasts an efficiency rating of 99.6 percent.

“We are focusing on three basic systems that meet our customers’ main requirements, namely efficiency, performance and cost, even in the standard version,” explains Markus Schwabe, Product Line Manager Electrified Powertrain Systems. “On this basis, we can optimally implement further individual customer requirements in e-vehicles of all segments.”

Source: ZF