As the automotive industry continues to move towards e-mobility, the manufacturing world is adapting to the respective requirements. Large gear ratios are necessary to reduce the high input speeds of electric motors to the required speed of the drive wheels. At the same time, masking noise of combustion engines is now missing, posing challenges to the noise level of transmissions. Principally, two main transmission concepts have become established for e-drive applications: two-stage layshaft transmissions with four gears, and planetary transmissions.

Zeiss and CleanControlling, a leading test laboratory for technical cleanliness, signed a cooperation agreement in April. The goal of the cooperation is to optimize products and industrial analysis techniques, and to set new market standards.

This paper recommends a 2-speed-automatic transmission for passenger cars with power <100 kW and for all trucks.

This paper shows a methodology to extensively evaluate different designs of epicyclic gear systems. As outlined, no choice is required on the part of the designer who is free to probe all design variables.

You've been asking for a course that focuses on electric vehicles (EVs) and we're happy to oblige! Introducing the all-new EV Automotive Transmission System Design class. Due to demand, seats for this course are projected to fill quickly, so register ASAP to ensure you get a spot!

AGMA hosted an EV Town Hall last month during their Motion + Power Technology Expo (MPT Expo). This event was planned to explicitly ask the question, “Is industry ready to roll up its sleeves and start the process of sharing common outcomes that will serve as the building blocks for standards for electric vehicle technology?” Spoiler Alert: The answer was a resounding, yes. And the discussion uncovered some key issues, and perhaps a surprise or two, that will help AGMA leverage its 107 years of experience in this space to start to frame future discussions for electric vehicle standards development.

Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire esco GmbH engineering solutions consulting, a German-based supplier of software for power skiving, an important technology within gear machining. Esco’s software solutions supports design, production and quality inspection in the main area of gear manufacturing. The company will be reported in Sandvik Coromant, a division within Sandvik Manufacturing and Machining Solutions.

The EV to-do list grows daily. Once the engineer has settled in on solving noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) challenges, they pivot toward energy efficiency. They consider the vehicle’s weight, the tooling needed to manufacture the gears, the skiving needed to make the surface finishes as smooth as possible.

Gear Technology readers know diesel—because of the fuel’s properties, such as viscosity, lubricity, and combustion characteristics—can influence the design considerations for gears within the diesel engine. What our readers might not know is on September 30, 1913, The New York Times led with a headline that Rudolf Diesel—multimillionaire inventor of the diesel engine and international superstar in the scientific community—had disappeared from the passenger steamship, Dresden, crossing from Belgium to England and was presumed dead.

The rise of electrification is happening more widely and suddenly than anyone expected, both for automobiles and for other types of electric vehicles (EVs). The global EV landscape is also more competitive than the automotive markets of previous decades, as more manufacturers—large and small—compete for space. How can manufacturers stay ahead of the competition while also overcoming the increasing challenges posed by difficult-to-machine materials, like high-strength steel? A new all-directional tooling method, combined with the next-generation CoroTurn Prime B-type insert from Sandvik Coromant, holds the answer.