Automotive parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen has partnered with the US-based Levant Power to develop new regenerative suspension systems and make it ready for volume production as well as market launch.

The product range of ContiTech now also includes air actuators with a diameter of up to 570 mm.

Market opportunities for electric vehicles will be enhanced if they become more powerful, more reliable, and less expensive. "EMiLE", the research project headed by ZF and supported with around EUR 10 million by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is examining how this could work. The aim is to integrate an electric vehicle's power electronics directly into the driving machine. Efficiency and power-to-weight ratio increase as a consequence, faults are easier to identify, and volume production can be realized at significantly lower cost.

The 65th International Motor Show (IAA Cars) will be held from September 12 to 22, 2013, in Frankfurt. First-tier auto industry supplier KSPG AG is exhibiting on stand F04 in hall 8 besides numerous products for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, a very low-vibration, low-noise range extender for electric vehicles. The extender will be installed in a demonstration vehicle on view.