Electric motors from ZF: Totally ready for all drives – ZF

“Hairpin” becomes key element

The hairpin winding is becoming the technology standard inside the motor. The production lines first preform the copper wire sections for the subsequent stator so they resemble a hairpin. These are then inserted mechanically, twisted together and connected individually. This increases motor efficiency substantially, but presents challenges for production. Process automation is expensive and constant precision challenging. “ZF was one of the first to invest heavily in this technology about four years ago. That’s why we’re now one of the few manufacturers that can reliably use this complex hairpin technique,” explains Gehring.

“Development and production must be closely intermeshed to deliver good electric motors, ideally at the same location,” explains Hintringer. Pilot lines help ZF achieve this important goal. “We can therefore perfect the processes and systems to manufacture an excellent hairpin electric motor at a high cycle rate.” ZF transfers the tried-and-tested processes on these pilot lines to production locations worldwide. “Thanks also to the modular kit and pilot systems in particular, we can now halve the time between start of development and market launch for an electric motor,” explains the product line manager.