Strong order bank for 8-speed ZF Powerline automatic transmission sees SOP in Friedrichshafen and in the USA from 2023
By Jim Gibbins - 1st January 2021
Germany / USA - ZF PowerLine, the name of a new but proven 8-speed automatic transmission for the medium-heavy truck and bus segments (and pickup trucks), has gone into series production in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
With the official start of production in October 2020 at the manufacturing facilities and headquarters of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the company stated with its eight gears and a design principle adopted from world leading passenger car systems, the new Powerline surpasses those transmission systems (manual and automated) currently available in the medium-heavy CV segments. More specifically, ZF Powerline has been adapted for the CV segment from the 8-speed automatic 8HHP transmission, of which three to four million are produced annually for the passenger car market. ZF says with Powerline, like a passenger car segment, it changes gear within milliseconds and so gear changes in the commercial vehicle segments will now always be smooth, fast and without traction interruption.
