ZF demonstrates its latest portfolio of innovative technologies for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucking applications as well as heavy-duty pickup truck applications. Earlier this year, ZF announced the creation of its new Commercial Vehicle Solutions division, which unites its former Commercial Vehicle Technology and Commercial Vehicle Control Systems, the latter of which was formed from ZF’s May 2020 acquisition of WABCO. “As the world's largest CV systems and solutions supplier, backed by outstanding service, we are extremely pleased to show our comprehensive technology portfolio at Work Truck Week,” said Julien Plenchette, ZF senior vice president, Americas, Commercial Vehicle Solutions Division. “We’re committed to developing and delivering innovative technology that will help the industry tackle the challenges they face today and ultimately become fully electrified, autonomous and connected.” Now ZF highlights key technologies.

PowerLine Commercial Vehicle Transmission

Building on the success of its efficient 8-speed automatic transmission for the passenger car market, ZF recently launched a variant for medium-duty trucks. PowerLine transmission utilizes ZF’s patented 8-speed gear layout, which provides a wider gear range for increased torque at launch and higher top gear for improved fuel economy. These gear ranges are stepped and matched with intelligent software further enhancing shift quality, acceleration, and overall performance. PowerLine offers fuel savings of up to 10 percent and promotes up to 15% enhanced acceleration performance. ZF PowerLine is loaded with safety features, including: Autopark, to help ensure park lock is engaged even if the driver forgets to select park or set the parking brake; Hill Hold, to help prevent roll back when launching from a stop on an incline; Shift-by-Wire, with integrated stalk shift selector enhances ergonomics and improves maneuverability. North American production of PowerLine will begin in the second half of 2023, ramping up to more than 200,000 transmissions by 2025 to fulfill multiple North American customers. Nearly 50,000-square-feet of ZF's Gray Court, South Carolina manufacturing facility will be dedicated to Powerline production for the North American commercial vehicle customer base. To support the launch, the Gray Court site will hire more than 300 new associates.

ReAX-e Full Electric Steering Gear

ReAX-e provides fully electric steering actuation for light duty commercial vehicles. It is designed to fit in conventional vehicle steering architecture replacing the hydraulic power steering system. ReAX-e is ideal for hybrid electric and fully electric vehicles and provides fuel savings in internal combustion vehicles. It also helps enable ADAS, automated driving, and remote steering capabilities.

AKC – Next Generation Steering for Heavy-Duty Trucks

Originally launched in 2013 on a high-performance sports car, ZF's second generation Active Kinematic Control (AKC) is suited to the North American market; by incorporating steer-by-wire technology, the rear steering system is now available to EVs, pickups and heavy-duty vehicles. The latest version AKC can help improve the turning radius of a full-size pickup truck by up to 10 feet, essentially improving the steering precision of a full-size crew cab pickup truck to the equivalent of a small SUV or a passenger car while improving safety, comfort and towing.

eWorX: All-In-One Solution for Commercial Vehicle PTOs

Fully electric commercial vehicles feature a significantly modified driveline architecture compared to conventional diesel-powered vehicles. This presents a new set of challenges for vehicle manufacturers when it comes to the design of power take-offs (PTOs). With its eWorX portfolio, ZF provides a fully electric system solution in a compact, standard interface that simplifies the integration required for electrifying work equipment — no matter which driveline configuration is needed.

Delivering 360 Degrees of Safety to the Commercial Vehicle Industry

ZF's broad and scalable safety solutions help to shield the truck and trailer from potential hazards through detection and dynamic control — including solutions such as:

• OnGuardMAX™, a system designed to warn a driver of imminent collisions and, if necessary, autonomously bring the vehicle to a complete stop;

• OnSideALERT™ a radar-based passive lane change assist and blind-spot detection system;

• TailGUARD™, a reversing collision avoidance system with automatic braking; and

• Braking and Steering, foundational systems that provide lateral and longitudinal vehicle control