BIG FUTURE for e-axles, advanced motors

Top transmission engineers claim driveline electrification will transform everything from all-wheel drive to Class 8 tractor-trailers.

A panel of high-ranking transmission and driveline engineers projected outsized adoption for electric-axle (e-axle) technology, as well as significant expansion of other driveline-electrification strategies now being adopted for new or near-future production vehicles. The engineering executives participated in a recent webinar in SAE's Leadership Roundtable series, a virtual event replacing the in-person program planned for April's SAE WCX 2020 conference that was cancelled because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Most of the panel agreed that hybrid and other electrification strategies such as e-axles are the transition from internal combustion-based drivetrains to volume production and sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs).