The German automotive manufacturer ZF has developed a cost-efficient transmission design for the low-end automobile market segment. The company demonstrates how it works using the latest Renault Duster.
In essence, it is a single-clutch, semi-automatic transmission with an electric engine mounted on the rear axle. Apart from the gear switching happening automatically, it isn’t really much different from the stick shift. This kind of transmission is actually popular among car manufacturers because of the low cost and ease of maintenance. There are a number of shortcomings, though, including low clutch performance, gear switch lag, and jerky acceleration.
ZF assures that their design is free from any of the abovementioned afflictions thanks to the smart operation of the electric motor which intervenes whenever the clutch is being released, the vehicle accelerates, or the front wheels slip.
The company has chosen a plug-in hybrid modification of the Renault Duster to showcase the performance of their eАМТ box. The choice appears hardly coincidental, given that DCT-driven Dusters are currently on sale in India. Introducing another, cheaper semi-automatic transmission design on that market would be easier from both the technical and the marketing points of view. On the other hand, ZF makes no promises that the prototype ever makes it into series production.
Photo: Renault