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Transmission technology specialist Xtrac, has announced its latest family of gearboxes launched initially for use in that exclusive and rarefied segment of the global car market focused on the development of ultra-high performance road vehicles. Xtrac’s project P1227 Integrated Lightweight Electric Vehicle (ILEV) transmission system made its debut at the international Driving Future Motorsport Business Growth Conference. Arranged by the Motorsport Industry Association (the MIA), this event took place at the Sahara Force India Formula One Team’s headquarters at Silverstone on Thursday 7 July on the eve of the British Grand Prix and was supported by the UKTI Innovation is Great campaign.
Xtrac’s P1227 gearbox family has been developed to address the growing market requirement for single speed, lightweight and power dense electric vehicle (EV) transmissions. It offers a range of installation possibilities for fast and powerful electric supercars with front-wheel drive, rear wheel drive or four-wheel drive configuration.
“There is substantial innovation and intellectual property in the design of this new transmission system,” says James Setter, head of Xtrac’s Automotive and Engineering business unit, which focuses on developing transmission systems for hypercars, hybrids and EVs to complement the company’s world-beating motorsport transmissions. “Significant focus went into the integration of the gearbox with numerous proprietary traction motors, and in particular, reducing its mass by almost 20 per cent compared with our previous P1092 electric vehicle transmission to provide the ultimate electric drive transaxle.”
The new transmission system can be integrated with motors supplied by BorgWarner, GKN and YASA, all of whom worked with Xtrac on the integration of their technology into this transmission. The dual electric motors of the transmission system also provide an inherent torque vectoring capabilities. For lower power applications a single electric motor can be specified, reducing the overall vehicle weight further and requiring an even smaller space envelope. The highly configurable nature of the design also enables an open or a limited slip differential to be specified.
In addition, the P1227 family of gearboxes offers a range of single gear ratios, as well as considerable motor-generator configuration and hence vehicle installation possibilities. This enables the transmission, for example, to be installed within a 90-degree angle from the motors positioned vertically above through to horizontally in front of the output.
“The design draws on Xtrac’s precision design, analysis and manufacturing engineering capabilities,” says Setter, “ensuring that the ground helical gear sets, necessary for road vehicle transmission systems, offer exceptional levels of NVH refinement for the most demanding silent driveline electric vehicle applications, as well as the durability required for this marketplace.”
Presenting delegates attending the international conference with a case study explaining how Xtrac has maximised its international trade, managing director Adrian Moore, commented on how the company’s exports had progressively increased to currently account for an impressive 77 per cent of its sales turnover.
“Xtrac’s unique ownership structure, ongoing investment in research and development, as well as capital expenditure on state-of-the-art manufacturing systems, means outstanding opportunities for the very best people to join a highly dynamic business,” says Moore. “The key to the success of our business is our people, and our 295 employees are all shareholders owning 100 per cent of the company. We have a global presence in 24 global markets, meaning that our customers can deal directly with Xtrac anywhere in the world, and we have completed over 1,000 transmission projects in the 32-year history of the company."
Adrian Moore, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a member of the Automobile Division, represents the motorsport industry on the Technology Group of the UK Automotive Council, which aims to engage in the delivery of new highly efficient low carbon technologies and development of the UK automotive industry supply base. He is the holder of several patents related to transmission technology and regularly presents technical papers at industry conferences.
“Expertise and experience gained by Xtrac during more than three decades of developing motorsport transmissions helps with the development and transfer of high performance technologies, such as our new ILEV transmission system, into the automotive mainstream.”
