ZF Expands Its R&D Capacities in Friedrichshafen

At the company took the opportunity to announce its future plans for the R&D centre site with the construction of a new office building next to the testing centre, designed to create additional working space for the developers who work there, a press release reads. “The new testing centre for drive technologies is the fitness centre for mobility of the future. This is where all of ZF’s vehicle drives are technologically fine-tuned to get them in peak condition,” says ZF Friedrichshafen CEO, Wolf-Henning Scheider, during the opening of the testing centre in Friedrichshafen. ZF has designed the testing centre to be a highly flexible building capable of testing electric, hybrid and combustion engine drives. Battery simulators are used to supply the necessary power to electric and hybrid drives. In this way, the entire power supply for a vehicle can be simulated in the test boxes – whatever the power source. The company is also, as mentioned earlier, planning to extend its capacities in Friedrichshafen even further. A new office building is to be built on the R&D centre premises immediately to the east of the testing centre and in keeping with the centre’s design. The building is to accommodate around 400 ZF developers. The construction project is currently in the planning and approval stage. Following a total investment of EUR 70 million in the testing centre, ZF is expected to invest a double-digit million figure. In Friedrichshafen, ZF operates numerous test equipment for various requirements and products. This equipment includes the existing transmission test benches in the R&D centre as well as a test bench for the laser-based LIDAR technology. “The testing centre specializes in the endurance testing of drive technologies,” said says. Dirk Walliser, Head of Corporate Research and Development at ZF. “Here, we can simulate the entire life cycle of a vehicle drive – whether it’s an electric or hybrid drive or a drive with combustion engine – in just three months.”