Mountain View, CA-based electric-trailer startup Range Energy today announced a partnership with ZF to help drive the development and adoption of the company’s eTrailer System in the North American commercial vehicle market.
The collaboration will see ZF’s AxTrax 2 e-axle integrated into Range’s system to address critical fleet demands such as greater efficiency, emissions reductions, and range extension, with the goal of advancing the widespread scalability of hybrid and zero-emissions trucking. ZF will also help to accelerate Range’s relationships with ecosystem partners such as component suppliers and integrations with trailer and tractor OEMs.
“Time is of the essence to get solutions into the hands of commercial fleet owners and operators to ensure smooth and consistent operations as their fleets evolve to address emissions reduction targets,” said Ali Javidan, CEO and Founder of Range. “Partnering with a market leader like ZF in an effort to seize the electric trailer market in commercial trucking is humbling. With ZF, we aim to rapidly advance our platform with tried and tested components, further proving that electric-powered trailers can play a critical role in reducing the environmental impact of commercial trucking,”
Range’s eTrailer System includes a modular battery pack, the AxTrax 2 e-axle, and a smart kingpin with patented control algorithms. It is delivering projected savings of up to $20,000 per trailer per year in early tests, and up to 70% reduction in emissions while using existing equipment and infrastructure.
“We believe electrified trailers are a viable solution to help lower emissions for food delivery or transportation of goods, improve fuel economy for combustion engines in the powertrain, extend the range of BEV and electric trucks, reduce exhaust, noise, and brake particle pollution, and further improve total cost of ownership,” said John Hawkins, Senior Vice President of Commercial Vehicle Solutions at ZF. “With Range’s market position, the company was a logical trailer partner for the AxTrax 2 e-axle in North America. Collaborating with Range not only expands the electric mobility applications of our products, it gives us the opportunity to work with an emerging leader offering a smart solution to emissions in a hard-to-abate sector.”
AxTrax 2 is an axle-based, fully integrated system, featuring a compact design to help maximize the available space for batteries and enhance manufacturers’ design flexibility for future vehicle concepts. It is designed to be fully synchronized with key vehicle functions, including braking, ADAS, and automated driving systems to help enhance vehicle safety and efficiency. It also enables advanced digital and telematics systems via CAN bus to communicate and share e-axle system information.
Initial customer deliveries of Range’s eTrailer System are expected to begin this year, and the company currently has pre-production units deployed in customer pilots across North America.
ZF premiered the AxTrax 2 modular e-powertrain platform for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles at the 2023 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo to help support the industry’s sustainability initiatives.
The axle-based, fully integrated system features a compact design to help maximize the available space for batteries and enhance OEM design flexibility for future vehicle concepts. It can be synchronized with key vehicle functions including braking, ADAS (advanced driver assistance system), and automated driving systems to help enhance vehicle safety and efficiency. It enables advanced digital and telematics systems via a CAN (controller area network) bus to communicate and share e-axle system information.
The AxTrax 2 is offered in two variants with one or two e-drives. The ZF platform covers Class 5-7 commercial vehicles with a single e-axle in a 4×2 or 6×2 or even up to Class 8 with two e-axles in a 6×4 configuration. Both models are designed to replace the engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential, and conventional axle to electrify a commercial vehicle. The line-up enables OEMs to reimagine the commercial vehicle form, function, and architecture—enhancing aerodynamics, enabling automation, or adding battery capacity.
In addition to AxTrax 2, ZF offers electric systems and components—including an e-motor, silicon carbide (SiC) inverter, e-drive control unit, e-actuator, and multi-speed transmission—designed to meet the requirements of the commercial vehicle market. Modularity enables manufacturers to use ZF’s full e-powertrain systems or mix and match their components while taking advantage of synergies and common interfaces.
“ZF has more than 100 years of experience in the global commercial vehicle industry and 30 years in electric driveline technology,” explained Christian Feldhaus, who is now Vice President of the ZF CV Transmission & Hybrid Business, at the 2023 ACT Expo. “These products and designs reap the benefits of our extensive experience in vehicle electrification as well as high volume manufacture of electrification products. With products located in North America to support customers in this region, we can help ensure USMCA requirements are met.”
At the September 2024 IAA Transportation event for commercial vehicles, ZF and its execs said the trailer will play an increasingly significant role in helping to decarbonize road freight transport, whether hauled by an ICE or electric truck.
The supplier showed an electric trailer concept that integrates the AxTrax 2 with its trailer EBS and battery system box into a trailer, effectively converting an ICE-powered truck into a hybrid. The concept was made possible by the electrified traction axle, which was originally designed for trucks, buses, and coaches.
In the case of an electric vehicle, the electric trailer concept effectively extends the vehicle’s range. When pulled by an ICE, the technology can help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 16% through recuperation, while up to 40% with the plug-in-hybrid solution.
