The AxTrax low-floor and CeTrax 2 electric drives; OnGuard Max; Collision Mitigation System; E-comp scroll air compressor; BusConnect. These are just some of the many products and services which the German company ZF has developed over the years, and all of these were on show at the UITP global summit in Hamburg, held between 15-18 June. Making these products and implementing them in buses has required a broad range of people with different competencies and specialisms; however, it takes one unit to promote them together with the regional sales and tailor them to people transportation. Truck & Bus Builder spoke with Daniel Majewski, Global head of Bus Solutions at ZF, about what makes the bus segment unique, how ZF supports manufacturers in keeping up to speed with the latest regulations and technologies, and how the implementation of new products and services is making Europe’s public transport safer and operational efficient.

From groundbreaking electric and hydrogen-powered buses to next-gen battery platforms, AI-enabled mobility, and innovative drivetrain technology, UITP 2025 underscored how commercial vehicle OEMs in the public transport space are accelerating toward a zero-emission, data-rich future.

Series production of the fifth-generation OptiRide began last year for an unnamed European commercial vehicle manufacturer; now, ZF is also supplying the system to Hyundai.

ZF describes its new ‘Software Update Management System’ as a “service suite” or “comprehensive toolkit” that simplifies the work of updating trailers over-the-air in line with international regulations.

The ATLAS-L4 truck completed an autonomous journey along a 7 km stretch of the A81 autobahn near Stuttgart, operating without driver intervention. This real-world demonstration follows two years of intensive development and testing by a consortium of 11 partners, including truck manufacturer MAN.

The German company used the show to present two new products: its upcoming ‘Traxon 2 Hybrid’ powertrain, making its North American market debut; and a third-generation air compressor for the global electric vehicle market.

With a maximum battery capacity of 625 kilowatt hours, the Kenworth T880E has a range exceeding 250 miles; the advertised range of the Peterbilt Model 567E is the same, with a re-charging time as low as two hours.

What a difference a year can make! A year ago, Truck & Bus Builder attended the “E-Bus Test” in the German city of Bonn, organised yearly by the German magazine Omnibus Spiegel. It is a fantastic opportunity for European journalists to ride on and test drive the latest electric buses, some of which have yet to launch in the market. In this regard, the 2025 edition of the e-bus test was no different. However, the outlook for the electric bus market in Europe is less certain now than it was even just twelve months ago. A representative of Stadtwerke Bonn, the operator of Bonn’s urban transport system which hosted the e-bus test at its depot, told attendees at the event that it is no longer looking for incentives to purchase electric buses from the European Union. Those dried up a while ago, and the city of Dortmund – to give just one example – has gone back to purchasing diesel buses. There is not a great deal of hope either that the new government in Germany will announce further support for electric buses and charging infrastructure.

ZF will supply several thousand units of its latest e-axle range, ‘AxTrax 2’, to a “leading customer” in India over several years.

Production and sales of the OptiLock range will be transferred to a location in Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel in the Netherlands.

Breidenbach replaces Dr Heinrich Hiesinger, who will leave the company.

ZF says it will integrate its ‘AxTrax 2’ e-axle – launched at ACT Expo 2023 – into Range’s electric trailer platform.

HDA Truck Pride will sell WABCO products across its 140-plus independent heavy parts distributors and service providers who supply to the North American CV aftermarket.

He succeeds the former mayor, Andreas Brand, who has handed over his seat on the supervisory board of ZF.

Starting in late 2024, ZF will provide its CeTrax 2 dual electric central drive, which is designed for heavy-duty trucks, including Ford Trucks' electric rigid truck (F-Line E). This drive offers two electric motors with a continuous power of 380 kW and a peak torque of 24,700 Nm, enabling efficient and powerful performance.

The new ‘HV (i.e., high voltage) Test & Validation Laboratory’ is already accredited to national and international standards for testing electric vehicles with architectures rated at 800 volts.

At IAA Transportation 2024 last month, I experienced firsthand the magnetic effect of the “Tesla phenomenon”. Towards the end of a series of keynote speeches delivered by some of the industry’s most important executives, Dan Priestley, who heads the development of Tesla’s heavy electric ‘Semi’ truck, took to the stage to provide an update on the company’s plans for the commercial vehicle segment. I had a place towards the front, having sat through the preceding talks that afternoon, which were reasonably well attended; however, looking behind just before Priestley’s entry to the stage, I saw a new crowd of attendees filling out the entire space.

This is the key take away from conversations at the IAA Transportation and following a round table discussion with Prof. Dr. Peter Laier, Member of the Board of ZF Group.

ZF confirmed that under the new agreement it would further develop the latest version of the hybrid automated manual transmission system, TraXon 2 Hybrid, for heavy-duty trucks in China.

The company introduced its F-Line E, an all-electric heavy-duty truck using a ZF electric drive system. Set to go into series production in 2025 at its Eskişehir Plant in Northeastern Turkey, the F-LINE series integrates several high-end safety technologies.

The agreement is designed to support Farizon Auto’s expansion in the methanol-hydrogen and electric-powered commercial vehicle segment.

Across its many German locations, ZF intends to shed between 11,000 and 14,000 employees over the next four years (from a current total of approximately 54,000) in order to cut costs and consolidate its operations.

ZF says its update management service will “fix bugs, patch security vulnerabilities as well as add new features while maintaining compliance” with the UN ECE R156 regulation.

At this year’s ‘Global Technology Day’ – held at its test track on 27 June in Jeversen, to the north of Hanover – ZF Group’s CEO, Dr Holger Klein, observed that, while sales of fully electric cars are slowing down, hybrids are seeing “a renaissance”. Fittingly, ZF used the event to promote one of its latest innovations, a new hybrid drive system. During the rest of the day, however, we were taken onto the track to see how its advanced safety technologies from the passenger car segment are now being transferred to trucks.