Automotive component company ZF has completed work on a state-of-the-art technical centre in the UK at a cost of £70 million. The 220,000sq ft site in Shirley, West Midlands, is one of a number of research and development hubs the company has around the world and adds to ZF’s tally of production facilities in the UK.
Covid restrictions meant that although the tech hub was completed in 2021, it has taken another year for it to become fully staffed and operational.
The hub is used for research and development of aftermarket products, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), race engineering and steering and braking and powertrains. It is also a ZF centre of competence for three key technology areas within the company globally, including cyber penetration testing, electronics components and servo drives.
The facility has already been involved in work on the next generation of ZF’s electric motors, announced this week. The company says that by 2030, it expects 47 million electric vehicles to require 61 million electric drive motors, expecting an average of 1.3 e-drives per vehicle as demand increases for all-wheel-drive EVs.
ZF says it already has an order book worth more than £22 million for its next-generation e-motor, which will be released as a complete unit to the market in 2025. It’s a much more compact unit than before, focused on the requirements of 10% less installation space, higher power density, greater efficiency and high flexibility. Sustainability was also a key part of development and the new e-motor uses 10% fewer raw materials.
It’s a critical part of the business for ZF, which is still seen by many as a transmission company, but member of ZF’s board, Stephan von Schuckmann, says that side of the business faces a major ramp-down after 2025.