GKN Automotive, the leading supplier of all-wheel-drive and electric-driveline technology and systems, has launched the next phase of its electrification strategy and is standardising “a range of intelligent highly integrated ‘3-in-1’ systems for pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, in a move to reduce cost and increase efficiency”.
The 3-in-1 systems effectively integrate an electric motor and inverter with a single-speed transmission module that ‘scales up’ the torque.
The inverter retains its own separate housing for maximum service-ability, while the company’s Automotive SPICE Level 2- and 3-certified software engineering processes enable it to manage the system’s ‘complete integration’.
Hannes Prenn, COO of GKN Automotive ePowertrain (
www.gknautomotive.com), said: “GKN Automotive is the world’s leading supplier of P4 electric-drive systems.
"This next phase of our electrification strategy will produce the highly integrated, modular and scalable architectures required for high-volume vehicle applications.
"Standardising these systems will make electrification more affordable and will enable OEMs to offer consumers highly optimised e-mobility at the right price.”
P4 electric drive architectures connect the motor directly to the vehicle’s axle, making it more efficient and cost-effective than P2 and P3 systems that hybridise the main transmission. P4 systems send torque directly to the wheels and recover energy directly from the wheel when braking.
GKN Automotive is the world’s leading supplier of automotive driveline technology and components. It supplies more than 90% of the world’s vehicle manufacturers, operates via 53 locations in 27 countries and employs over 29,000 people.
Its rapidly growing eDrive activities employ 5,000 people at eight manufacturing and R&D sites in six countries, and have delivered more than one million eDrive units to date.