At its eMobility Tech Day, held before the major IAA Mobility 2025 passenger car trade fair, ZF is showcasing how it is driving the transition to sustainable mobility. The global demand for electrified mobility continues to grow, despite a slowdown in Europe, and ZF is meeting this demand with an extensive range of electrified drive solutions. With the market becoming more complex and technologically diverse, ZF is adapting by offering a broader selection of drive configurations. Today, suppliers need to offer much more than they did a few years ago to remain competitive. In addition, there is a rising expectation for faster development timelines, improved integration, and optimized costs.
Central to ZF’s approach is the SELECT e-drive platform, which enables a variety of system solutions, incorporating essential components such as electric motors, inverters, converters, reduction gears, and software. In addition to all-electric drives, ZF offers hybrid and combustion engine solutions tailored to various vehicle types. A standout innovation is the TherMaS thermal management system, which significantly enhances electric vehicle range through energy-efficient air conditioning. These cutting-edge advancements can be seen in action within ZF’s EVselect concept vehicle.
ZF is reinforcing its leadership in e-mobility with the introduction of its modular SELECT e-drive platform. This platform helps ZF meet the growing and evolving demands of the electric mobility market while maintaining a fast pace of innovation. The SELECT platform combines ZF’s extensive system expertise with years of experience as a supplier and innovator of components and systems for electrified powertrains.
“With the SELECT platform, we are ready to address the complex requirements of the e-mobility market. By leveraging our deep knowledge of the entire vehicle, we provide customers with cutting-edge, versatile, and customized solutions,” said Mathias Miedreich, ZF Board Member in charge of Electrified Powertrain Technology. “Our product range also includes highly efficient combustion engine solutions, alongside the full spectrum of electrified drive systems, all of which are continuously evolving for every type of vehicle.”
Dr Otmar Scharrer, Senior Vice President of R&D for Electrified Powertrain Technology at ZF, highlighted that the SELECT platform enables the company to offer tailored solutions to meet diverse electromobility needs. “By combining powerful individual components with attractive system-level functionalities, we can configure electric drives for a wide array of applications while reducing development times,” he explained.
ZF’s future innovations will come from the SELECT platform, focusing on compatibility and faster integration into customer applications. The company is pursuing high integration, merging multiple hardware and software functions into single systems, reducing space, weight, material use, and ultimately cost.
Although hybrid systems continue to be crucial in certain markets, ZF is committed to evolving its portfolio to meet this ongoing need. At the eMobility Tech Day, ZF unveiled updates to its successful 8-speed automatic transmission, the 8HP evo. This new version delivers improved efficiency and flexibility for various hybrid vehicle platforms. Another highlight is ZF’s electric range extender system, designed to alleviate the “range anxiety” often experienced by electric vehicle drivers. This compact system pairs a small combustion engine with a generator to provide reliable energy when the battery is low, ensuring drivers stay mobile, no matter when or where they need to charge.
The EVselect concept vehicle serves as a real-world demonstration of ZF’s technological innovations. It features pre-production versions of electric primary and secondary drives, all powered by the SELECT platform. The vehicle’s enhanced thermal management system, TherMaS, efficiently conditions both the cabin and the battery system, showcasing ZF’s ability to balance performance and comfort.
Another breakthrough is ZF’s TherMaS thermal management system, specifically designed for all-electric vehicles. By utilizing propane as a refrigerant, TherMaS offers superior thermal performance across a wider temperature range. The system’s compact design and increased efficiency can improve electric vehicle range by up to 10 percent in colder climates, with potential gains of up to 30 percent in extreme conditions.
Mathias Miedreich summed up ZF’s mission: “Wherever people are driving in the world, no matter the energy sources available, ZF’s innovations ensure a smooth, comfortable, and efficient driving experience.”
