SMALL PASSENGER VEHICLES – THE FUTURE IS NOW

There is a unique gap in the automotive market for the ROTORcvt especially in smaller 2, 3 and 4-cylinder engine vehicles like the, Chery QQ3 and Chevrolet Spark. This industry is fast growing and projected demand is set to increase of between 49% to 58% by 2019.

Presently, no CVT’s exist in this market due to the high unit costs associated with existing commercial traction drive CVT technology. The low mechanical efficiency of low cost rubber belt technology is also not suitable for this market.

When compared with current commercial CVT’s, the Varibox ROTORcvt enjoys certain advantages that further differentiate the technology from any other transmissions in the small vehicle market segment.

The table below shows the competitive edge ROTORcvt has against other transmission designs in the small vehicle segment.

RADIALcvt in Automotives

The RADIALcvt is a completely scalable CVT technology which can help OEMs meet emission regulations, maximise performance and improve efficiency on a variety of automotive applications including:

• Conventional small passenger vehicles
• Hybrid vehicles
• Full electric vehicles

The global surge in the demand for mechanically efficient and fuel saving CVT’s in the automotive sector has seen 40% of new-car buyers in Japan opting for CVTs and 31.6% of cars sold in the United States being equipped with CVTs, up from 10.2% in 2012, according to WardsAuto data.

Additionally, 16.1% of light trucks sold in the U.S. in 2016 with CVTs, up from 5.2% in 2012. Auto Forecast Solutions, projects global CVT take-rates will rise modestly from 13% currently to about 16% by 2024.

Unlike conventional CVT’s currently on the market, the RADIALcvt technology is designed to offer reduced contact stresses and low spinning losses in automotive applications. Furthermore, mechanical efficiency in the RADIALcvt is at most within an estimate of about 3% less than the stepped transmissions and is more compact lengthwise than the stepped transmission with a clutch or dual clutch.

The RADIALcvt, because of its simplicity and high efficiency is therefore an excellent transmission solution for conventional, hybrid and full electric vehicles.

Although the RADIALcvt is currently suitable for conventional, hybrid and pure electric vehicles, Varibox will continuously develop its CVT technologies to ensure they fully meet requirements for futuristic applications including driverless cars.