Oerlikon Graziano expands portfolio of electric drive transmission offerings
20 June 2014
Oerlikon Graziano will display new transmission products for hybrid and electric vehicles at the upcoming VDI Wissenforum in Germany. Products displayed at VDI include the 2SED, a dual-speed seamless-shifting transaxle that can be coupled with a transversal electric motor, for front or rear full electric axle, and the electric transmission multispeed 4SED, a new compact, lightweight transmission offering increased efficiency, smooth shifting and a scalable design, making it suitable for a wide range of vehicle types.
Oerlikon Graziano will also show a new 2 Speed Automated Manual Transmission. Developed in a EU-funded research project (FP7), called AVTR (Adaptable Voltage & Trasmission Ratio), it is a full electric transmission for AWD city cars or pure Electric Vehicles.
The 2 speed AMT offers different solutions for EV market. Used singularly it provides the advantages of multispeed transmissions to pure electric vehicles, while applied as two independent axles it makes the vehicle AWD and at the same time allows seamless shifting.
In addition, the company has created a hybrid transmission for supercars to combine the advantages of AMT solutions with those of the dual-clutch technology: OGeco. The new six-speed hybrid transmission offers performance, efficiency and cost reduction, it is lighter and more compact than traditional DCTs, with “torque infill” to reduce shift shock.
The idea is not well-regarded with this site's readers, owing mainly to the idea that "moving parts are bad", but two drive ratios for an electric propulsion system could really improve range. All motors have a peak efficiency point, with that "peakiness" more pronounced with higher efficiency machines. The trick is dealing with drive dynamics as a system issue: a full-speed shift with a high-speed motor can shatter a gearbox as a consequence of the very high inertia of the rotor. This is very manageable with modern power electronics and controls. Added weight would be modest, and trades very well with even projected battery specific energy.
Posted by: Herman | 22 June 2014 at 05:13 PM