As part of just-auto’s ongoing monitoring of trends in the transmission sector, Matthew Beecham talked with executives from BorgWarner, Getrag and Prodrive about how they see the future for electronically-actuated automated manual transmissions (AMTs), whether integrated into hybrid or electric powertrains or combined with a conventional internal combustion engine.
“The question is: who is willing to accept the performance and comfort of such a system?” asks Alexander Moser, Supervisor Advanced Product Engineering, Clutch Systems, BorgWarner Drivetrain Systems. “Currently AMTs are not liked in many markets. In the future, we anticipate increases in performance and comfort expectations in all segments. To make an AMT better in these areas would cost about the same as producing a DCT, which offers much more performance, comfort and the flexibility to integrate with a hybrid or electric powertrain.”
Go deeper with GlobalData
Meanwhile, Getrag’s engineers point out that due to high efficiency at low cost, also as an add-on unit to manual transmissions, AMTs might have a future in passenger cars. However, the shifting comfort is the major reason why the future is limited to entry level passenger cars. “Filling the torque-break is a big challenge to AMT hybrids. Interestingly the first axle split hybrids aren’t launched with AMTs. Nevertheless AMTs will stay a mainstream technology in the truck business.”
Prodrive believes that AMTs offer an excellent solution for hybrid and electric vehicle transmissions. “An electric vehicle could use a 2- or 3-speed AMT to optimise motor efficiency while following a programmed shift pattern,” said Simon Leleu, Prodrive team leader for transmission and driveline systems. “A hybrid could use its motor to fill in the dip in engine torque during gear shifts, allowing an AMT to perform like a more expensive DCT. The key to making this work seamlessly and efficiently is the control software, which is one of the areas where Prodrive is focussing.”
