Schaeffler’s E-Clutch Makes It to Top 10 of GreenTec Awards

Schaeffler has added another feather to its cap after its popular E-clutch has been included in the top ten of this year’s GreenTec Awards. The German company is pinning its hopes to reach the next level, which is getting a nomination in the top 3 in the automobility category. Every year, the GreenTec Awards recognize innovative products and projects that help contribute to an environmentally conscious future.

According to Matthias Zink, President Transmission Systems Business pision, they are thrilled to have overcome the first hurdle on the way and they would be very happy to win the sought-after European environmental prize in the coming year. He underlined that already being in the top 10 is a distinction and is also acknowledgement of the Schaeffler strategy concept “mobility for tomorrow”. “With our technological innovations we are close to the market and with our expertise we can help our customers achieve stringent CO2 targets.”

The E-clutch is an electric automated clutch enabling optimization in fuel consumption by means of “sailing”. Depending on the extension phase, the system assumes clutch operation only in specific driving situations or performs all clutch operations fully automatically. This suggests that fuel-saving techniques from “sailing” through to electrically-assisted driving can also be employed in vehicles equipped with manual transmissions.

Uwe Wagner, Vice President Research and Development Automotive at Schaeffler, claims that the E-clutch paves the way for manual transmissions to hybridization and thereby to new markets and segments. Until now, this has only been feasible in combination with automatic transmissions.

Everyone is welcome to join the online voting process, and every person’s vote plays a decisive factor in Schaeffler’s victory. The project that gets the most votes automatically qualifies as one of the three nominees in the respective category. Then, the jury will choose the winner from these. Apart from the main prize, all participants will be entered in a draw for two invitations to the prestigious GreenTec awards ceremony on May 29, 2016 in Munich, including first-class travel to the event with Deutsche Bahn, four-star hotel accommodation in the NH München Ost Conference Center and VIP shuttle service. The voting process will run from December 8, 2015 until January 13 next year at www.greentec-awards.com.