Lotus Eletre - Luxury Performance SUV with ZF Chassis Control

For a pleasant driving experience, the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical dynamics of a vehicle must be harmoniously coordinated. This is particularly true for automated driving, when the driver turns away from active driving and comfort takes center stage. Here, the ZF software cubiX will be particularly significant, controlling all chassis systems and ensuring harmonious acceleration and braking, precise steering, and balanced damping.

Since the beginning of 2023, the first production vehicles with the new ZF software cubiX have been hitting the roads: The electric SUV Lotus Eletre from the Geely Group has been delivered to first customers since February. The vehicle should be available in Europe from mid-year. ZF's software controls all chassis functions such as brakes, front and rear axle steering, and active roll stabilization as well as the electric drive of the new sports car. Further series launches of the ZF software are expected to follow from 2023 onwards.

“With the series premiere of our software cubiX, we impressively demonstrate our system competence for the vehicle dynamics of software-defined vehicles,” says André Engelke, Head of the Vehicle Motion Control System House at ZF. “We can harmoniously control the entire longitudinal, lateral, and vertical dynamics of the vehicle according to Lotus's specifications. Here, the system know-how from the entire ZF Group meets decades of experience in braking and steering systems, active dampers, and drive technology.”

Conductor for Vehicle Dynamics

The cubiX software aims to optimize driving behavior with regard to comfort, dynamics, and efficiency, and furthermore, forms the basis for advanced driver assistance systems. As the first purely software product from the supplier in Friedrichshafen, cubiX is supposed to offer another decisive advantage: The platform is compatible with various actuators such as dampers, brakes, or rear-wheel steering systems – regardless of the manufacturer or specific configuration. This gives manufacturers the flexibility to implement different model series with the same control platform without additional integration effort.

Future updates or upgrades of the software can occur "over-the-air" – wirelessly without a workshop visit. Thus, the software remains up-to-date throughout the vehicle's entire lifespan, allowing it to be continuously enhanced with additional functions even after the vehicle has been delivered.

Architecture Change in the Software-Defined Vehicle

Thus, cubiX is an example of a crucial trend on the way to the software-defined vehicle: moving away from the many individual controls of hardware components towards overarching domain and zone architectures. This development accounts for the increasing complexity of automotive control software. Until now, dampers, brakes, or rear-axle steering each had their own control unit, which had to be laboriously integrated into the overall architecture of the vehicle.