ZF und Freudenberg entwickeln gemeinsam nachhaltige, hochintegrierte Brennstoffzellen-E-Drive-Systeme für Nutzfahrzeuge.
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ZF has joined forces with Freudenberg to develop sustainable, highly integrated fuel cell eDrive systems for commercial vehicles.
ZF has agreed on joint development with fuel cell and battery system supplier Freudenberg e-Power Systems for sustainable e-drive technologies. The so-called “Powerpacks”, consisting of fuel cell and drive system, offer a complete solution for the electrification of the commercial vehicle sector. Freudenberg contributes scalable e-power kits with a wide range of output powers to the partnership; ZF provides a complete electric powertrain with up to 360 kW continuous power. The technical basis is CeTrax 2, the recently introduced electric central drive for heavy commercial vehicles.
The pilot phase of the joint project is currently underway, in which various truck and bus prototypes are being developed. The first test vehicle is expected in 2023. Part of this is also the already announced “HyFleet” collaboration between ZF, Freudenberg and Flixbus.
Open technology approach for sustainable mobility
For the commercial vehicle industry, the fuel cell is particularly interesting as an energy source thanks to higher ranges and shorter refuelling times. ZF is aware of this trend: by 2030, the Group estimates that the global share of this form of drive in heavy commercial vehicles will increase to 20 percent. ZF will therefore continue to take a flexible and open-ended approach to fuel cell technology in the future in order to effectively support the sector’s transformation towards sustainable mobility.
This technology-open approach to energy sources also underlies the partnership between ZF and Freudenberg to offer numerous benefits to manufacturers worldwide. ZF’s comprehensive e-mobility portfolio is complemented by a jointly developed integrated fuel cell drive – meaning that all the key electrified hardware and software solutions customers need to transform their product portfolio come from a single source. The highly integrated e-drive technology eliminates the need for costly R&D and project management for manufacturers, reduces integration efforts and thus helps to lower the total cost of ownership. www.zf.com; www.freudenberg.com
