ZF unveils electric truck prototype for Japan

ZF has developed an electric light commercial vehicle specifically for the Japanese market.

The company has been electrifying a wide range of systems not only for passenger cars and commercial vehicles but also for industrial machines.

This prototype vehicle has been developed by ZF Japan’s engineering team at their Tech Centre in Yokohama, collaborating with a team in ZF HQ in Germany in order to satisfy Japan’s unique requirements.

The CeTrax lite, developed based on ZF’s electric drive for passenger vehicles, is an electric drive for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) with a GTW of up to 7.5 tons.

 Through ZF’s systematic approach of integrating an electric motor, power electronics, transmission and cooling system, the company achieved a compact and light driveline unit with a total weight of 120kg.

“The beauty of our new E-drive module is that it can be installed in existing internal combustion engine (ICE) models and therefore converted to a fully electric vehicle without major modifications to the chassis and axles,” said Robert T. Seidler, head of R&D at ZF Japan.

“This is thanks to our ‘plug-and-drive’ concept. The system is proven in terms of durability and cost efficiency as the electric drive system for passenger cars is already in series production in the market.”

An asynchronous motor equipped with the prototype truck generates 150kW and 380Nm ensuring the same level of performance as ICEs in this class while also achieving local zero emissions and low noise output.