A research group at the University of Kassel, in collaboration with the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kassel, a Daimler Truck AG site, has developed a system with which proven electric components from the passenger car sector can be transferred to commercial vehicles.
Simply transferring electric drives from the passenger car sector to commercial vehicles is not a solution: high power reserves would be required to meet the torque and speed requirements at the same time. This would increase costs, volume and weight and would also be disadvantageous in terms of energy. In the project „Scaling effects through modular drive architectures for commercial vehicles“, or „Scale-E-Drive“ for short, the researchers involved solved the problem with a newly designed two-speed gearbox and a newly developed operating strategy that makes use of the high dynamics of the electric motor and intelligent temperature management.
This means that lightweight and cost-effective electric drives (including inverters) from the passenger car sector can also be applied in commercial vehicles in an energy-efficient manner. This enables scaling effects as well as significantly reduced development costs and risks. The fundamental research objective of the project is to cover the highly variable and demanding driving dynamics requirements. Firstly, a highly dynamic shift strategy was developed to implement the gear changes in the multi-speed gearbox efficiently and without compromising comfort. Secondly, a predictive driving strategy was developed that proactively sets the most energy-efficient driving strategies based on current usage behavior. (jr)
