(PRESS RELEASE) FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, 25-May-2020 — /EuropaWire/ — German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG has announced its electric portal axle AxTrax AVE will be used to propel the new thirty-seven Metrodecker EVs from British bus manufacturer Optare ordered by London bus operator Tower Transit to be used in London. The current deal with Tower Transit will be the second London bus company contract for the Optare model that will rely on ZF’s electric portal axle AxTrax AVE. According to Optare, some one hundred electric double-decker buses will be in use in city centers across Britain by year end.
With the AxTrax AVE electric portal axle, ZF is providing a successful model for achieving sustainable local public transportation. Globally, more than 2,200 electric buses equipped with the AxTrax AVE have already covered 150 million local, emission free kilometers. Tower Transit is now the second bus operator in London to decide in favor of the proven electric portal axle. Over the course of the year, thirty-seven Optare Metrodecker EVs, battery-electric versions of the iconic red double-decker buses, are to begin serving both the No.23 bus route, running past Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace and route C3, which serves south-eastern London. Operator Metroline has already been running thirty-one Metrodecker EVs since last summer. “Central London has one of the world’s strictest regimes for regulating emissions. The multiple contracts awarded by the city, demonstrate that the AxTrax AVE is a technology which allows our customer, Optare, to meet the most demanding standards for clean and attractive local public transportation”, says Andreas Moser, Head of ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Technology division.
A versatile all-rounder
The electric axle can be combined with numerous drive configurations – ranging from hybrid and fuel cell drive systems to battery-electric solutions. The low-profile design also provides manufacturers with a great deal of latitude in the design of the passenger area, enabling layouts such as full low-floor buses. As a systems supplier, ZF delivers the appropriate hardware and software to optimally tune performance, efficiency and service life of the drive.
Media contacts
Frank Discher
Technology and Product Communications
+49 7541-77 960770
frank.discher@zf.com
Robert Buchmeier
Head of Technology and Product Communications
+49 7541 77-2488
robert.buchmeier@zf.com
SOURCE: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
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