Joint venture on energy recovery systemsTorotrak plc and Xtrac Ltd has announced that they entered into a licence agreement to enable Xtrac to develop highly efficient and compact continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) for use in the new kinetic energy recovery systems
(KERS) proposed for Formula One.
In 2009, F1 is introducing new rules that will lower the environmental impact of the sport. Part of this is to recover deceleration energy that can be stored for acceleration.
CVT is nothing new to Formula One as Williams spent a great deal of time developing a system over a decade ago on the Renault-powered FW15C before the system was deemed illegal - as effectively there is no shifting at all - and that Formula One gearboxes must have a physical shift from gear to gear. This is set to change in 2009.
Peter Digby, Xtrac MD
“The transfer of world-class transmission technology from Torotrak, combined with the added value of Xtrac’s expertise in the design and manufacture of transmissions for motorsport – and with clear potential to feed the resulting technical solution back into mainstream automotive use – is a good example of what I believe FIA President Max Mosley had in mind when he announced that Formula One should embrace an energy efficient future and open up the world of motorsport to new manufacturers."
Dick Elsy, Torotrak CEO
“We are delighted to be working with Xtrac on this exciting new application of our transmission technology, to provide a highly efficient KERS solution for initial application in motorsport, but with a clear opportunity to apply the system in mainstream road cars to provide performance, economy and greenhouse gas emission benefits.”
Source Torotrak
