No provider — at the least ones that need to stay in enterprise — goes to be untouched by the shift to electrical powertrains. And that features Tremec, the 59-year-old firm whose handbook transmissions and dual-clutch gearboxes make lots of the world’s muscle automobiles, supercars and semitrucks roll.
Tremec just lately turned its engineers unfastened on creating an electrical drive unit designed to be a direct alternative for a gasoline powertrain in a sports activities automobile, resembling a Chevrolet Corvette or a McLaren.
I visited Tremec’s plant in suburban Detroit final week to try the light-weight, compact drive unit that’s concerning the dimension of a duffel bag.
The twin-motor electrical drive unit can crank out as a lot as 800 hp and assist ship a high pace of round 186 mph. The EDU weighs simply 243 kilos. A typical supercar’s powertrain would simply weigh twice as a lot.
Matt Memmer, Tremec’s director of worldwide engineering and program administration, informed me the period of time he’s spending on electrification has elevated by an element of 10 within the final two years — and that is at an organization that makes handbook gearboxes for Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. Tremec additionally makes the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission for the Chevrolet Corvette, and a DCT for Maserati.
“We’ve created an advanced engineering team to focus on electrification,” Memmer mentioned. “We’re putting more and more people into that group.”
Tremec views this transfer into electrified powertrains as an important subsequent step in its evolution. Although the corporate may stay worthwhile for the foreseeable future by supplying handbook transmissions to automakers and the recent rod trade and by promoting dual-clutch transmissions to trucking corporations, Memmer mentioned Tremec is seeking to develop, not simply preserve its present market share.
Tremec makes round 300,000 light-duty transmissions yearly, together with 80,000 medium and heavy-duty gearboxes. The firm additionally makes round 10,000 dual-clutch transmissions and round 2 million parts resembling gears and shafts.
“Dual-clutch transmissions represented a massive step-change for us,” Memmer mentioned. “It was a huge step in terms of complexity. The electric drive unit will do the same thing.”
Massive energy density was a high precedence for the EDU. Tremec engineers used surface-mounted everlasting magnet motors, that are compact and may ship excessive efficiency, resembling lengthy runs at excessive rpm. They additionally designed a really compact gearset and the power for the EDU to ship torque vectoring. That helps sports activities automobiles deal with higher below duress — resembling when cornering at excessive speeds — by various the facility set to every wheel. The energy electronics are mounted on high of the EDU.
But maybe probably the most interesting side of Tremec’s EDU for automakers is that it may be put in in a sports activities automobile with out engineers having to transform the automobile’s structure.
“What we’ve tried to do is allow for manufacturers, who already have their vehicle designed with all the electronics, to be able to take out the existing drive unit and drop ours in without having to add space just to get more power,” Memmer mentioned.
For certain, Tremec will not be alone in making a drop-in, high-performance electrical drivetrain. In addition to established opponents, many new corporations try to interrupt into the market.
Memmer believes that Tremec’s status may also help the corporate open doorways at automakers, however it’s going to take greater than that for the EDU and different electrified powertrains coming to achieve success.
Tremec plans to have the brand new EDU prepared for demonstrations to producers this yr. And manufacturing may begin inside three years.
“We’ve still got to prove ourselves in electrification, just like we did in our other products,” Memmer mentioned. “It helps to have a name that’s well known, but it’s up to us to prove it in the electrification space.”
Source: www.autonews.com