Schaeffler India develops indigenous two-speed EV gearbox
German Tier 1 auto component major Schaeffler is making advances in the area of electric mobility. The Group has several components including e-motors, silent-drive bearings as well as transmissions that it is already supplying on high-end sports cars such as Porsche's all-electric Taycan.
Now, its Indian subsidiary, Schaeffler India is making strides in local design and development of EV-related solutions, given the growing acceptance of electric vehicles across different segments in the country.
Schaeffler India has indigenously developed a two-speed automatic gearbox for electric three-wheelers and sub-1-ton cargo LCV applications. This was revealed at
Autocar Professional's two-day EV Forum which concluded on February 23.
The new technology christened 'Twin-Tran' where 'twin' denotes the two-speed nature of the transmission, is aimed at improving the efficiency of the electric motor that it couples with, by automatically selecting the right gear as per the vehicle speed.
The company also claims that the transmission would enhance gradeability, acceleration as well as top speed in order to offer superior performance to seamlessly transport the payload.
According to Biswajyoti Mandal, CTO, Schaeffler India, "The two-speed EV transmission is 100 percent driven by the India R&D team. We had a very clear mandate that if we borrow EV technology products from Germany, while we would probably sell them in some numbers, achieving mass volumes will not be possible."
"Therefore, we decided that it has to be designed and tested by local engineers, who understand the price sensitivity of the Indian customer," he added.
While the initial focus will remain the electric three-wheeler segment, the Twin-Tran transmission also boasts of a modular architecture that would allow it to cater to the electric two-wheeler as well as four-wheeler segments in the future. Schaeffler India claims that its latest innovation is robust, cost-effective in design and compatible with electric powertrains ranging from 5kW to 30kW.
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