ZF has announced a new generation of its CeTrax 2 electric propulsion system. It is an electric motor designed for electric heavy commercial vehicles and according to ZF it will be able to offer a rIndustry leading power to weight ratio within a limited and compact design.
The German firm has been selling the first generation of the CeTrax electric motor in series since 2020. The Polish bus manufacturer Solaris was one of the first large companies to trust this engine when installing it in the electric Urbino 15 LE.
Based on what ZF has announced, the CeTrax 2 can be configured to deliver a power of up to 360 kW, which represents 490 CV of steam. However, despite announcing that one of its features is a successful ratio between weight and power, they have not said how many kilos the propeller marks on the scale.
With respect to the first generation of the propellant, the new CeTrax 2 has incorporated technologies such as a new fork design for the stators, as well as a new cooling system and an inverter made of silicon carbide. All this key improvements that promote better energy use and that allows, thanks to reducing power losses, to achieve better performance figures with a lighter propellant.
As the company has announced, it is a design that is ready for its entry into production, although this is not expected to happen until 2023, when a “global industrial vehicle manufacturer” will debut it, although they have not disclosed which client it is. Currently among the most reputable companies to which ZF supplies components for electric vehicles are names such as Mercedes-Benz, the Volkswagen Group, or Iveco in the field of commercial vehicles.
The new address by cable presented by ZF
Another of the most striking novelties that ZF has presented is its new generation of steering by cable. Known in English as “Steer-by-wire”, this technology transmits the driver’s orders to the steering system solely through electrical signals, eliminating any mechanical element between the steering wheel and the front axle.
Among the advantages it provides is that it is a solution that makes it possible to significantly reduce the total weight of a vehicle, since it eliminates the need to equip, for example, a steering rack. In the future, this technology is expected to become popular, and according to ZF, also to “play an increasingly important role in all aspects of vehicle motion control: longitudinally, transversely and vertically.”
