SKF is supplying customized tapered roller bearings and SKF eDrive Ball Bearings of the electric motor and gearbox of the Volkswagen e-up!, which was launched the Fall of 2013.

The solutions help to reduce the friction and noise in the E-powertrain, enabling an extended driving range of the vehicle.

The eDrive Ball Bearings feature an optimized internal geometry and new patented high-speed polymer cage. SKF says that the bearings can reduce frictional loss by up to 30%. (To determine this, they set up a standard motor and an equivalent motor with eDrive Ball Bearings, spin them both up, then cut the power and count the rotations until they each stop.)

On a typical EV application, an improvement of 1% of the car electric range can be expected when using a set of optimized SKF bearing and sealing solutions in the e-powertrain, according to SKF.

The SKF eDrive Ball Bearing is a product in our SKF BeyondZero portfolio and is one of our energy efficient solutions for hybrid and full electric vehicles. Our partnership with Volkswagen has grown over the years and we both are taking positive steps in the area of sustainability to reduce the emission footprint of greenhouse gas globally.