ZF announced that it has developed a regenerative braking system for Tevva’s 7.5t battery-electric truck. Under the project, the company collaborated with Tevva engineers to integrate its Electronic Brake System (EBS) in their zero-emission electric trucks.
Tevva's engineers met a range of stringent testing criteria for the company's truck, working on fine-tuning its control unit (VCU) and enhancing compatibility with the EBS. The result is a system that recuperates up to four times more energy than a conventional compressed air brake system, optimising the range of the Tevva truck.
Implementing EBS allows for safely incorporating regenerative braking up to 180 kW, whereas the traditional air brake system had limited passive regen to around 40 kW due to safety considerations. Testing of the adapted system, which took place at the ZF test track in Jeversen, Germany, involved a variety of conditions, gradients, and surface types.
The system transfers the driver's deceleration request electronically to all braking system components to shorten response time, balance brake forces and provide ease of braking and efficient brake management.
Heiko Eggers, Head, EMEA Application Engineering for Braking and ADAS, Commercial Vehicle Solutions, ZF, said, 'Our broad product portfolio and systems competence, including ZF's standardised Electronic Braking System, enables faster time-to-market for new, innovative market players such as Tevva.”
Uzair Jilani, Lead Engineer, Drive and Brake Systems, Tevva, noted that the system has been adapted for use with the truck maker’s regenerative system; when the brake pedal is pushed, most of the 'braking' is handled by regenerative, meaning that the drive system slows the vehicle down.
Tevva’s 7.5t battery-electric vehicle has begun mass production at the company’s London facility this year. This will be followed by a 7.5t hydrogen-electric truck, which benefits from a hydrogen range-extender that enhances vehicle range to 354 miles (570 km). The Tevva BEV offers up to 140 miles (227 kilometres) from its 105-kWh battery on a single charge and is ideal for last-mile and urban delivery fleets.
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