ZF, Freudenberg developing integrated ‘Powerpack’ fuel cell and e-drive

Although there were new commercial vehicles on display at this year's IAA Transportation staged at the Hanover Messe Fairground in Germany, it was electric drive systems that formed the core of the show, with a range of new systems on display across the halls of the vast fairground.

While OEMs such as MAN, part of the Traton Group, announced that the company expected battery-electric vehicles to dominate future electric CV production, driveline system producer ZF announced a partnership with fuel cell and e-power systems developer Freudenberg. “Long range will be limited when you look at battery systems,” Nils Martens, managing director/CCO Freudenberg Battery and Fuel Cell, told SAE Media. “Five hundred kilometers (310 miles) is what you'll find when you go to the different booths here at the show. If you really want to go across the U.S. - East Coast to West Coast - with two drivers, or even here in Europe, it's impossible to do that on a single charge with a battery.”