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ZF and Foton open joint facility in China to produce automated commercial vehicles

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German automotive components giant ZF Friedrichshafen and Chinese commercial vehicles manufacturer Foton have jointly opened a facility to produce automated commercial vehicles.

The joint plant in Jiaxing will produce automatic commercial vehicle transmissions for the Chinese market, and the partners say they see “excellent market potential for automated commercial vehicles in the next five years”.

At the end of 2016, ZF entered into two joint ventures with Foton, a Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer, to produce and sell commercial vehicle transmissions. [Read more…] about ZF and Foton open joint facility in China to produce automated commercial vehicles

ZF wins multi-billion-euro order for 8-speed automatic transmission

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ZF Friedrichshafen has received a customer order with a double-digit billion euro value for its enhanced 8-speed automatic transmission. The business is planned to run over a period of several years.

The latest version of ZF’s 8-speed transmission – a technology which has been production since 2009 – has been improved by integrating an electric drive. This also includes a hybrid variant.

The new transmission generation will start series production in 2022 at ZF’s plant in Saarbrücken, the lead production facility for ZF’s automatic passenger car transmissions.

[Read more…] about ZF wins multi-billion-euro order for 8-speed automatic transmission

ZF wins major order for new automatic transmission

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ZF Friedrichshafen AG has received a double-digit billion-euro order from BMW AG for its enhanced 8-speed automatic transmission.

The latest version of ZF’s 8-speed transmission has been improved by integrating an electric drive. This also includes a hybrid variant.

The new transmission generation will start series production in 2022 at ZF’s plant in Saarbrücken, the lead production facility for ZF’s automatic passenger car transmissions.

[Read more…] about ZF wins major order for new automatic transmission

ZF unveils electric truck prototype for Japan

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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.

[Read more…] about ZF unveils electric truck prototype for Japan

ZF buys major stake in mobility provider 2getthere

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ZF Friedrichshafen AG has acquired a 60 percent share of 2getthere B.V., which offers automated transport systems and is located in Utrecht/Netherlands.

2getthere’s applications range from driverless electric transport systems at airports, business and theme parks to dedicated urban transport infrastructures.

With this strategic investment, ZF is executing its Next Generation Mobility strategy to strengthen its foothold in the Mobility as a Service and automated guided vehicle growth markets.

[Read more…] about ZF buys major stake in mobility provider 2getthere

ZF unveils concepts for emission-free, efficient and safe future urban landscapes

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ZF, better known for automotive technologies, has unveiled a range of concepts for emission-free, efficient and safe future urban construction sites and smart cities.

They include:

  • Zero emissions e-concepts for compact construction machinery
  • Artificial intelligence to make it easier to transport goods and people
  • Open IoT platforms offer wide-ranging options for new digital services

A lot of work lies ahead for the construction industry, says ZF. According to estimates, by 2050 two thirds of the world’s population will live in large cities.  [Read more…] about ZF unveils concepts for emission-free, efficient and safe future urban landscapes

ZF acquires automotive division of Romanian engineering services provider BeeSpeed

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ZF Friedrichshafen AG has acquired the automotive division of Romanian engineering service provider BeeSpeed.

The new ZF subsidiary BeeSpeed Technical Engineering Center S.R.L. employs more than 100 developers at the polytechnic university in Timisoara in western Romania.

BeeSpeed has been working with the Braking System Business Unit of the Active Safety Division since 2008.

[Read more…] about ZF acquires automotive division of Romanian engineering services provider BeeSpeed

ZF unveils latest supercomputer

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ZF has unveiled the latest model of its automotive supercomputer ZF ProAI and says its ProAI RoboThink central control unit offers the highest performance of its kind in the industry.

Vehicle manufacturers and mobility service providers can benefit from the system’s modularity and scalability.

Today’s four models in the ZF ProAI product family can be optimally configured for any application – from a basic ADAS function right up to fully autonomous cars, commercial vehicles and industrial applications.

[Read more…] about ZF unveils latest supercomputer

ZF promotes sensor portfolio for autonomous driving

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At CES this year, ZF highlighted its sensor portfolio for detecting vehicle surroundings – both inside and outside of the vehicle – to help to enhance the safety of conventional and automated vehicles.

The resulting architecture – including a new, full-range radar, solid-state LiDAR, innovative cameras and acoustic sensors – are combined with supercomputers from the ZF ProAI product family to create a powerful overall sensor system.

“As system architects for autonomous driving, we’ve developed a sensor set which equips cars with all of the necessary senses to digitally detect their surroundings,” said Torsten Gollewski, head of Advanced Engineering at ZF and general manager of Zukunft Ventures GmbH.

[Read more…] about ZF promotes sensor portfolio for autonomous driving

ZF shows off technology for new forms of urban mobility at CES 2019

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Novel urban mobility choices are one of the biggest drivers behind the development of autonomous driving. A primary example is autonomous ride-hailing, a service based on shared rides in robo-taxis or robo-shuttles.

At CES 2019, ZF will unveil a steering wheel and pedal-free robo-taxi to show how its technologies enable new forms of urban mobility.

Users can hail the taxi using their smartphone or tablet and it will manoeuvre autonomously to pick them up. It can then chauffeur them to where they wish to go.

[Read more…] about ZF shows off technology for new forms of urban mobility at CES 2019