Volkswagen MEB models to use ZF’s new brake system
Volkswagen has opted to add a new braking system from ZF in all MEB models, including the ID.3 and ID.4 electric cars. The system also controls the recovery of braking energy.
ZF has not disclosed the financial volume of the Volkswagen order. The German supplier extolls the virtues of its new braking system that features, which, in addition to recuperation, is also supposed to meet “high comfort requirements and safety standards”. ZF says that the braking system should be easier to integrate into a vehicle’s electronics architecture thanks to an optimised software interface.
The software connection is important because the braking system also has to communicate with other control units of the assistance systems to perform driving assistance functions such as automatic emergency braking. Here, the safety criteria of the European road safety association EuroNCAP have been tightened. “New test protocols for functions such as automatic emergency braking, for example, require a stronger boost to provide braking force even faster and more dynamically,” says the supplier.
However, ZF has gone one step further with the brake control system’s software: “Previously necessary mechanical components” have been replaced by software. This is supposed to save weight and costs, to which the German company does not name any figures.
Technically, ZF brake control is based on a combination of electronic brake booster (EBB) and electronic stability control (ESC). According to ZF, EBB and ESC are intended to cover a wide range of vehicles, from small cars to SUVs and light commercial vehicles.
“We meet the trend toward electromobility with our entire range of technological solutions – not just in driveline technology,” says ZF CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider. “This supply order from Volkswagen emphasizes how our competencies for braking systems as well as for networked system contribute to increasing the range of our customers’ electric vehicles. To this end, our systems help to meet high comfort and safety requirements.”
ZF is now another system supplier for the MEB. The parts of the MEB come together from several different suppliers. The MEB drive control unit comes from Continental’s powertrain division Vitesco Technologies. The Dutch semiconductor manufacturer NXP is the sole supplier for the battery management systems of the MEB platform. TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) builds the heat pump module for the ID.3 and ID.4. Components such as the steering system, front and rear axles, electric motors, the single-speed gearbox and numerous housings for these components are manufactured by VW itself in its in-house supplier division Volkswagen Group Components.
With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.
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