Clutchless multi-speed transmission for EVs

Transmission specialist Zeroshift has devised a multi-speed gearbox for electric vehicles (EVs) that needs no clutch.
February 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Zeroshift's multi-speed transmission concept changes gear without interrupting the torque, allowing EVs to run for longer at peak efficiency.

Transmission specialist 1994 Zeroshift has devised a multi-speed gearbox for electric vehicles (EVs) that needs no clutch. A damper inside the gear hubs and electronic control of the motor make ratio changes seamless. The company claims the innovation could enable manufacturers to downsize EVs’ electric motors, keeping them running longer at the medium loads and speeds where peak efficiency of over 95 per cent is possible. For drivers, that could mean more performance, greater range and longer lasting batteries.

Zeroshift’s managing director Bill Martin says: “Our studies suggest that by using a compact, multi-speed transmission and a smaller electric motor, manufacturers can gain an operating efficiency of up to 10 per cent. You can use that 10 per cent to improve EVs’ range or reduce the size, weight and cost of battery packs.”

Zeroshift’s concept prevents any torque interruptions during ratio changes and does not require a clutch, issues that have so far deterred EV manufacturers from fitting multi-speed gearboxes. Current EVs instead use a single-speed transmission, but the motor then spends more of its time outside of its optimum efficiency range.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Geotoll’s payment app could be the smart answer to tolling interoperability
    July 30, 2013
    Jon Masters looks at a smartphone app which could be the ‘disruptive technology’ that eases the way to interoperability in tolling systems. Consumer demand may soon drive the biggest step change yet in tolling. In the United States a new start-up company, Geotoll, has launched a smartphone app for electronic toll payment. It is not beyond possibility that rapid growth of the market for smartphones will continue – an estimated 50% of US citizens and 80% of Europeans now have one – and that the Geotoll brand
    Read More
  • Huawei advocates for change
    April 23, 2025
    Achieving technological change also requires a shift in mindset, as Jacky Wang, vice president of Huawei’s Smart Transportation business unit, explains
    Read More
  • Innovia & The Ray feel the pulse
    March 15, 2022
    Getting drivers to slow down and space themselves safely on the road is a problem – but a collaboration between Innovia Technology and The Ray may have found a new way to do it
    Read More
  • Trafficware: Digitised transport tech ‘is the new asphalt’
    April 16, 2019

    Trafficware provides the tech to manage intersections all over the world. Colin Sowman asks CEO Jon Newhard about the ‘questions behind the questions’

    Last year, Trafficware CEO Jon Newhard negotiated the company’s acquisition by Cubic Corporation and now serves as general manager of Trafficware within Cubic’s Transportation Systems business unit.

    Read More

Highlighted Content