Driving Commercial Vehicle Innovation
ZF Drives Commercial Vehicles Innovation to Shape the Future of Transportation
ZF’s Commercial Vehicles Solutions division continues to set the pace for commercial vehicles technology by developing innovations in the areas of decarbonization, chassis, safety and digitalization. ZF Group’s deep expertise across all vehicle segments, combined with its global production capabilities, enables the company to industrialize innovations rapidly and cost effectively. This approach has proved highly successful in making ZF a leading global supplier as customers continue to rely on ZF for technological solutions and innovation.
Retrospect
ZF at IAA Transportation 2024
With new products in the areas of decarbonization, digitalization and safety, ZF presented some of its key innovations at the IAA Transportation 2024. The largest supplier to the commercial vehicle industry with the broadest portfolio continues to underscore its position as a pacesetter of transformation.
Impressions from the IAA Transportation 2024
Safety
ZF Demonstrates Further Advances in Safety Technologies for Commercial Vehicles at IAA Transportation 2024
ZF has a strong record of developing systems for commercial vehicles that can make driving safer and reduce the risk of accidents. As a global supplier offering the commercial vehicles industry’s broadest product portfolio, from individual components to full system-wide solutions, ZF provides all the systems needed to help comply with the latest GSR standards. By leveraging cross-divisional technology transfer capabilities, ZF is also able to develop new advancements in ADAS technologies, driving innovation in safety systems to the next level.
ZF ADAS technologies rely on sophisticated software and algorithms to assess whether objects in the vicinity of the vehicle present a hazard. Intelligent systems also detect driver drowsiness or inattentiveness and determine what action, warning or intervention is needed.
Safety Innovation Truck
The ZF Safety Innovation Truck combines the Group's latest safety technologies, including active Moving-Off Assist, which prevents collisions with pedestrians, Highway Assist, which enables level 2 autonomous driving, and OnGuardMAX autonomous emergency braking assist. The advanced reversing assistant prevents accidents with people during maneuvering.
Decarbonization
Full Portfolio for the Decarbonization of Road Transportation: From Hybrid to Fully Electric
With its next generation electric drivelines, ZF electrifies a wide range of commercial vehicle applications by offering different and technologically open solutions for battery electric or fuel cell vehicles. Its new E-Mobility Kit, which includes central drives, CeTrax 2 and CeTrax 2 dual, as well as its electric axles, the AxTrax 2, AxTrax 2 dual and AxTrax 2 LF, provides everything manufacturers need to produce zero emissions electric vehicles.
In addition to driving solutions for the full electrification of trucks and buses, ZF’s new TraXon 2 Hybrid transmission for heavy commercial vehicles will also help to shape the transition to e-mobility and support global CO2 targets.
eTruck
ZF is harnessing the power of software to develop smarter, more connected, and highly efficient commercial vehicle technologies. By integrating ZF’s intelligent software solutions with its chassis technologies, vehicle performance and safety can be improved, ensuring safer and smoother journeys.
eTrailer
The trailer will play an increasingly significant role in helping to decarbonize road freight transport, whether hauled by an ICE or electric truck. ZF’s electric trailer concept, which integrates its in-house developed AxTrax 2 e-Axle together with its trailer EBS and battery system box into a trailer, effectively converts an ICE powered truck into a hybrid.
EPS
ZF’s Electronic Power Steering system supports conventional and electrified commercial vehicles and is an enabler for automation. ZF’s latest EPS system boasts simplified packaging and fewer components with integrated comfort and safety functions. The system reduces fuel consumption and emissions due to assist on demand, while supporting automation and control for ADAS and automated vehicles.
Vehicle Motion Control
Driving Innovation in Vehicle Motion Control
As commercial vehicles become more automated, electrified and connected, vehicle motion control technologies are becoming increasingly important in managing ever more complex vehicle systems. Additionally, the discussions about the software-defined-truck and the related E/E architecture require new approaches to ensure modular and high performing vehicle motion control systems.
Vehicle motion control systems for commercial vehicle applications translate driving instructions from virtual driver systems into real vehicle motion commands by the vehicle actuators. This ensures vehicle stability, safety, precision, and performance for CV configurations, including conventional and electric.
ZF simplifies in-vehicle implementation for customers thanks to its deep understanding and expertise for integration and system engineering, to enable ready-to-automate vehicle motion control and pave the way towards the software-defined-vehicle.
cubiX for CV
cubiX interfaces with all virtual driver systems and the vehicle actuators to ensure required safety, precision and vehicle performance in challenging driving scenarios such as freight yards or ports, where there is more scope to deploy automated technologies compared to public roads. Thus, cubiX for commercial vehicles is an enabling technology for higher level automation.
Digitalization
Digital Solutions for Safe, Efficient and Sustainable Transportation
As the transportation industry evolves, software solutions are becoming increasingly critical in managing complex logistic systems.
By integrating ZF’s deep expertise in vehicle systems into the development of its software solutions, ZF’s digital solutions can help fleet managers optimize their fleet operations through predictive diagnostics and avoid unplanned downtime of their vehicles. Thanks to its digital and data-driven expertise, ZF has developed solutions that blend components, vehicle and fleet insights.
This comprehensive approach takes fleet management to the next level. Fleet managers benefit from being able to access real-time data and predictive analytics so that they can optimize the movement of their vehicles, trailers, and drivers.
Digitalization for OEMs and Fleets
The industry faces a pressing demand to innovate and digitize, driven by regulatory requirements, sustainability goals, total cost of ownership considerations, data security and safety standards. To help fleets manage these challenges, ZF offers a suite of digital solutions that enable vehicle connectivity, cybersecurity, diagnostics, and data analytics.
SCALAR
SCALAR, ZF’s digital fleet orchestration platform, enables fleet managers to orchestrate their operations through real-time, AI-based automated decision-making and efficiency improvement tools. OEMs can also benefit from data insights from SCALAR to measure the performance of their vehicles in real world settings. The platform can operate with human-driven and automated vehicles.
