Dana Introduces New Driveshaft Product and Medium-Duty Option
ATLANTA — Dana Inc. launched its latest driveshaft, expanded the availability of a drive axle and offered a new option for certain steer axles, while outlining the trends in electrification.
The company made its announcements at the inaugural North American Commercial Vehicle Show here Sept. 26.
Ryan Laskey, vice president of engineering for commercial vehicle and core driveline products at Dana, outlined trends in the fast-emerging electrification of vehicles.
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First, battery costs are falling fast, he said. In 2010, the cost per kilowatt hour was about $1,000.
“We see by 2020, they are going to sitting down in the range of $100 to $150 per kilowatt hour, and that is the point you really see total cost of ownership driving electrified solutions,” Laskey said.
Regulations — both national and local — that slash emissions are the other key mega trend, he said. “You are going to need to have a solution that is not going to use the likes of a diesel engine to do that.”
For its part, Dana is accelerating the hybridization of electrification across its entire driveline industry and power technologies group, he said.
At the same time, the annual demand in China for “pure battery electric solutions” transit buses is already dwarfing electrification in the rest of the world, and is helping provide scale for companies involved in China and also looking to market in other areas, he said.
China is on track for 100,000 such buses this year, and 300,000 in 2020, Laskey said.
Meanwhile, Dana launched its SPL 250 Lite driveshaft, calling it the next generation in a “robust” series of driveshafts for heavy-duty trucks.
It is designed to handle torque ratings up to 25,000 Nm [newton-meter], and is up to 25 pounds lighter than competitive products and engineered to reduce noise, vibration and harshness levels, according to the company.
“The lower numeric axle ratios required to support engine downspeeding and improve fuel efficiency can cause significant stress to the drivetrain and alter harmonics in driveline components,” Mark Wallace, president of Dana Commercial Driveline Technologies, said in a statement.
In addition, Dana’s Spicer S140 Series single-reduction, single-drive axle is now available as an option on Classes 6 and 7 vehicles from Peterbilt Motors Co. — a unit of Paccar Inc. — including the 220, 330, 337 and 348 models. It comes with gross axle weight ratings from 17,000 through 21,000 pounds, while weighing up to 100 pounds less than competitive axles, according to Dana.
With 50% fewer components and six fewer pints of lubricant required than any other axle in its class, maintenance costs have also been reduced, according to the company. Both the SPL 250 Lite and SPL 350 Lite driveshafts are available with a choice of service-free or standard re-lube designs to accommodate fleet preference.
Lastly, Dana now offers a new aluminum hub option on Spicer D-Series steer axles with a 14,600-pound gross axle weight rating, according to the company.
Dana supports the commercial truck, off-highway and passenger vehicle markets, as well as industrial and stationary equipment applications.
