WABCO Holdings Inc. announced its OptiDrive system, with automated manual transmission technology, continues to gain global acceptance among major manufacturers of transmissions, trucks and buses.
According to the company, it is engineered as a modular system and reduces by 50% the development time required for transmission and original equipment manufacturers to apply it to their respective product platforms. In addition, it improves vehicle control and reduces fuel consumption by as much as 5% through optimized gear shifting. It also improves driver effectiveness, particularly among less experienced drivers, by automating and optimizing gear shifting in 5- to 18-speed manual transmissions, WABCO added. It enhances vehicle safety by freeing drivers from frequent shifting, allowing them to further concentrate on traffic conditions. Less shifting also helps improve fuel economy and leaves an environmentally cleaner footprint.
“OptiDrive exemplifies our technology leadership and it differentiates WABCO, as we are the industry’s only independent manufacturer of compressed air-powered automated manual transmission systems,” said Nikhil Varty, WABCO vice president, Americas. “OptiDrive’s highly modular and flexible adaptation is also a major advancement for makers of transmissions and vehicles as it saves significant development time. Since 2008 we have a growing list of globally operating customers that have adopted OptiDrive systems in series production.”