ZF Friedrichshafen has obtained a multi-year provide settlement with a number one Indian bus producer for its AxTrax 2 LF electrical portal axle, meant to be used in battery-electric metropolis buses.
The contract covers a number of thousand models for automobiles serving the Indian home market in addition to chosen export programmes. The first deliveries underneath the settlement are deliberate for 2026.
AxTrax 2 LF
© ZF Group
The AxTrax 2 LF axle is designed for low-floor battery-electric buses. It integrates propulsion, braking and suspension elements inside a single axle system. This format helps low-floor car structure and might help producers handle packaging area for batteries and passenger areas.
ZF states that the AxTrax 2 LF delivers up to 20 p.c increased power effectivity than the earlier AxTrax technology. Improved effectivity can scale back power consumption and should enable operators to specify smaller battery packs or obtain prolonged working vary, relying on responsibility cycle and route situations.
The system makes use of twin everlasting magnet synchronous hairpin motors, an 800-volt silicon carbide (SiC) inverter and an oil-cooled design. ZF studies steady energy output of up to 360 kW and peak torque of 36,800 Nm.
According to the corporate, this configuration allows a 30-tonne articulated metropolis bus to obtain a climbing functionality of up to 25 p.c utilizing a single pushed axle, topic to car specification and working parameters.
ZF states that the modular platform is meant to assist bus producers standardise car layouts throughout totally different fashions and working necessities. The firm hyperlinks the up to date axle design to decrease whole price of possession by way of improved power effectivity and built-in system structure.
The Indian order kinds a part of ZF’s wider electrical industrial car driveline enterprise, which incorporates axles and built-in drive methods for buses and vehicles in a number of markets.