EcoLife CoachLine’s innovative Stop & Start function saves fuel over the life of the transmission. This system provides fuel savings of up to 3% compared to the previous generation of the EcoLife system. This automatic gearbox has an optimal ratio ratio of 3.36 to 0.59. Combined with very high mechanical performance, this feature ensures that the vehicle always operates in the optimum engine speed range.
ZF’s TopoDyn Life control software enables easy gear changing, improving driving comfort. Using rolling resistance-based shift controls, the program continually ensures that the correct gear is selected as the terrain changes. The hydrodynamic torque converter with a standard torsion damper enables high input torques to be obtained at relatively low engine speeds. The main advantage of this torque converter is the reduction of noise and fuel consumption.
An innovative integrated primary retarder and a double-cooling system ensure that the highest braking power is always available, even at low speeds. The dual-cooling system has a large retarder heat exchanger and incorporates a gearbox heat exchanger. This ensures longer braking with the retarder and greater availability of the retarder, important features for coaches that operate frequently for longer periods and over greater distances. By effectively reducing the load on the vehicle’s service brakes and protecting them from overheating, the dual-cooling system also extends oil change intervals up to 480,000 km. Overall, the many improvements increase fuel efficiency while reducing CO2 emissions and total cost of ownership (TCO).
In addition, EcoLife CoachLine promotes the digitalization of service and maintenance to help not only predict breakdowns, but also prevent them. Thanks to this complete offer of predictive maintenance and preventive services, maintenance and repair costs are reduced, necessary interventions are more easily planned and the service life of vehicles is extended.
Launched on January 1, 2022, ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) division is on a mission to help shape the future of commercial transportation systems by being a preferred global technology partner to the commercial vehicle industry. With around 25,000 employees in 28 countries, the division combines ZF’s industrial vehicle systems expertise, broad technology portfolio and global operations to innovate and deliver advanced controls for increasingly autonomous, connected and electric vehicles. ZF’s CVS division combines the former ZF divisions, Commercial Vehicle Technology and Commercial Vehicle Control Systems, the latter having been created in the spring of 2020 following ZF’s acquisition of WABCO.
