The future of eco-friendly transport

As a major player in the field of power transmissions with a wellestablished worldwide presence, Oerlikon Graziano, with more than a decade in the automotive market, today is giving particular emphasis to the zero emissions sector. As the company has a longstanding tradition of successful innovation, it is not surprising that excellent results have also been achieved for electric vehicles.

Oerlikon Graziano’s origins date back to 1951 when its first plant was set up near Turin, dedicated to the production of gears for the agricultural sector. Following a major business expansion, the company has grown from a small family-run business to an internationally renowned group manufacturing components for power transmission. In the 2007 the merger into the Swiss OC Oerlikon Group, one of the world’s most innovative industrial firm, which provides its customers with innovative solutions and cutting-edge technologies in a wide range of sectors, including textile manufacturing, thin-film coating, drive systems, precision, vacuum, solar energy systems and advanced nanotechnology.

Oerlikon Graziano customers are major manufacturers of passenger cars, agricultural equipment, construction machines, industrial vehicles and vehicles for special applications.

Key strengths

Thanks to its global presence and locations in Europe (Italy, Russia and the UK), Asia (India and China) and North America, Oerlikon Graziano is able to satisfy its customers’ requirements by improving the efficiency and performance of its vehicles and delivering, at the same time, excellent results in terms of both efficiency and costs. The core of its success rests on three key pillars: innovation, state-of-the-art technol-

ogy and manufacturing excellence. All its innovative and cutting-edge solutions have been developed thanks to its extensive R&D activities, dedicated and well-trained workforce and a world-renowned team of talented engineers.

Fully electric taxi

With 20 years of experience and valuable know-how in electrical driveline systems as well as single gearing components, Oerlikon Graziano has developed a wide range of products starting from the very first golf/ utility transaxle to the latest transfer case designed for light commercial electric vehicles. This includes the latest applications of the increasingly popular ‘fully electric’, ‘zero emissions’ city cars.

Having seen the excellent opportunity to promote its system supplier know-how, the group is now determined to explore the cutting-edge control software and electronic hardware design skills of its controlled company VOCIS Driveline Controls.

Jointly designed and produced by Oerlikon Graziano and Vocis, the new gearbox for the e-Vito Taxi is ideal for inner city transport. Not only does it contribute to reducing both CO2 emissions and environmental noise, but it also allows its users to save a significant amount of money, thanks to lower energy costs compared to petrol. From a technical point of view, this new gearbox is coupled with a 70kW

front transverse electric motor and has been developed with a two-stage reduction, thus featuring a reduction ratio of 1:8,29. Thanks to this revolutionary gearbox ratio, vehicles can now reach a maximum speed of 120 kph at a maximum motor speed of 8000 rpm.

This new project has been developed thanks to the participation of Oerlikon Graziano and Vocis in a consortium of companies funded by Advanced West Midlands (AWM) and led by Zytek Automotive. Its main objective was to convert a diesel Mercedes ‘Vito’ van into a fully electric taxi prototype. In order to develop the electric taxi, AWM awarded the Zytek consortium a grant for collaborative research and development through the Advantage Niche Vehicle Programme, which started in July 2009 and was completed in January 2010. Since it meets the requirements laid out by the Public Carriage Office, it is licensed for use as a ‘London Taxi’. In February 2010 it was demonstrated in front of an audience including MP Ian Austin, AWM and selected members of the press. The vehicle is currently undergoing tests at the Zitek premises, where both its software and hardware are also being upgraded.

Of course, this programme has not brought benefits to Oerlikon Graziano and Vocis only. Each member of the above-mentioned consortium can make the most of this experience to improve the promotion of the fully electric vehicles sector, and to use the vehicle for customer demonstration purposes. Also thanks to the excellent results of this project, Oerlikon Graziano has now consolidated its position as a Europe-leading supplier of electric vehicle transmissions with a wide product range, from 90Nm to 350Nm single speed units and an extended customer portfolio. Its development of innovative solutions may revolutionise the public transport sector for the benefit of all. n