Skip to main content

50 years of driveline technology

ZF has celebrated 50 years of developing and producing driveline technology and axle systems for construction machinery at its location in Passau, Germany. The company is also celebrating two world premieres: ZF cPower, a continuously variable construction machinery transmission, and ZF Ergopower Hybrid.
May 14, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
2304 ZF has celebrated 50 years of developing and producing driveline technology and axle systems for construction machinery at its location in Passau, Germany.

The company is also celebrating two world premieres: ZF cPower, a continuously variable construction machinery transmission, and ZF Ergopower Hybrid.

ZF’s path in construction machinery started off with powershift transmissions, planetary design and reduplan transmissions for wheel and crawler excavators. Then its product portfolio was extended to steering and rigid axles for construction machinery.

In 1997 series production of the ZF-Ergopower transmission started, and according to ZF “to the present day Ergopower transmissions are still common practice in many wheel loaders, dumpers and aircraft tow tractors.”

Hermann Beck, vice president business unit Construction Machinery Systems at ZF Passau, said: “ZF develops the whole driveline ranging from transmissions over axles to hydraulic/electronic control elements and functional software. Thanks to the optimised interaction with diesel engine and working hydraulics the driveline becomes an integral component of the overall vehicle system. This is the only way to achieve up to 20% fuel savings as well as up to 40% productivity increase in the latest transmission generation.”

Today ZF Passau is represented with driveline technology and axle systems for construction machinery on all international markets with its export rate of over 80%.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • On track with Kistler
    February 15, 2022
    How to survey and safeguard a sensitive load-bearing road above a section of railway line? This was the challenge facing Revotec, a Vienna-based bridge monitoring specialist. The solution was KiTraffic Statistics, the weigh-in-motion (WIM) system from Kistler.
  • FETC innovation from Highway Toll to ITS Taiwan smart city
    March 6, 2017
    FETC innovation from Highway Toll to ITS Taiwan smart city – a Global Road Achievement Award winner says IRF. The Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Company (FETC) has a bold vision for the future. FETC has achieved the most successful BOT project for ITS traf_ c management; it turns the traditional highway toll collection system into an integrated intelligent electronic toll collection (ETC) system for mobility management.
  • Tailpipe tale
    September 3, 2012
    Forthcoming emissions legislation is requiring engine firms to invest in new technology, writes Mike Woof
  • Connected Tech for Construction Continuity
    December 11, 2020
    No one could have predicted the situation we found ourselves in in 2020, with a global pandemic bringing the economy to its knees, projects delayed overnight, rapid restarts, remote management, and challenging labor dynamics.