CES 2022: ZF showcases smart solutions for safe, automated, and electric mobility

CES was and remains important for ZF as well. Martin Fischer, ZF board member for the Americas region, explains:

“The mobility of the future depends largely on intelligent technologies. ZF is preparing these solutions today so that they will be ready at the right time.”

Fischer adds:

“This way, consumers can already benefit from advantages in terms of safety and the environment and get accustomed to new driver assistance and autonomous driving functions. At the same time, infrastructure needs to be modernized, such as the establishment of charging points for electric vehicles or the creation of lanes for automated shuttles.”

ZF continues to advance digitalization and has been successful in doing so: The already announced ZF technologies for automated driving, including coASSIST, have been introduced with Dongfeng in China. According to ZF, coDRIVE, the next development of Level 2+ driver assistance systems, is also attracting great customer interest. coPILOT, a system scalable up to Level 4, is to be introduced in partnership with the fast-growing Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast. “Our customers are looking for advanced technology as well as intelligence and functions that offer added value to the consumer,” emphasizes Fischer, adding:

“We have been able to continuously expand our ADAS and AD business with orders for sensors and high-performance computers that encompass the fusion of these sensor technologies, the system know-how for advanced functions, and the required computing power with our ProAI supercomputer.”

Shuttles, commercial vehicles, and the industrial sector are to benefit 

The area of “Transportation as a Service” is also becoming increasingly important with the further growth of megacities. The ZF team for automated transport systems can now offer a practically turnkey solution for the planning, operation, and implementation of an automated shuttle system that relieves inner cities and connects them with remote rural areas. ZF is now also introducing these mobility solutions in the USA.

Since the beginning of 2022, a new ZF division has united all commercial vehicle solutions, including the former Wabco. This makes ZF the world’s largest commercial vehicle supplier, providing customers with all the necessary technologies for advanced safety and automated driving functions as well as state-of-the-art drive systems.

New technologies for off-road, agriculture, and mining

Additionally, ZF goes beyond these rather traditional forms of mobility and offers automation solutions for agricultural, mining, and off-road applications as well as for automated forklifts. Furthermore, highly efficient wind turbine gearboxes reduce environmental impact.

Software solutions drive mobility and sustainability initiatives 

With this, ZF aims to continue its transformation into a software- and digitally-based company across all business processes. By leveraging comprehensive Microsoft technologies for the cloud, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and data, ZF claims to become a cloud-native mobility provider that offers its customers clean, safe, convenient, and affordable mobility solutions. 

An example of this is the greater scalability and modularity that ZF brings to inverter technology for E-drives through its highly intelligent software and semiconductor expertise. According to the company, this is “a crucial step” to increase the efficiency, range, and affordability of E-drives for the electrified future. ZF CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider adds:

“We must address the major issues of our world promptly, as they are critical to our survival and the quality of life that all people deserve. To improve the lives of future generations, we must all work together—from governments to industry to members of society—focusing on the common goal of fulfilling the promises of tomorrow.”

What does this mean?

Software is also becoming increasingly important at ZF, and the company is working more intensively on complex overall systems that offer “everything from a single source”—the CES is the ideal platform for this.