In a close dialogue with a world-leading manufacturer of trucks, Haldex has been selected to start a concept phase where Haldex's solution "Scalable Brake System" will be evaluated, which is expected to lead to a development contract at the end of the year.

Haldex presented its future projects on connected, autonomous and electrified vehicles, "Scalable Brake System", in the spring of 2018. Subsequently, a number of customer dialogues have been initiated where one of them has now resulted in Haldex being selected for a concept phase, with the goal of signing a development contract at end of the year. A development contract means that the manufacturer and Haldex in close collaboration will develop a solution that is expected to go into production 4-5 years later.

"We have worked closely with the customer during the fall and have conducted a number of tests where our test results have been far better than the other solutions presented. We therefore, with confidence, look forward to prove this under the concept phase that is now initiated,", says Åke Bengtsson, President and CEO of Haldex. "We are very happy for the breakthrough this cooperation entails. It is proof that our technology is innovative and that our solutions are world-leading."

"Scalable brake systems" stand out against other solutions in the market by:

• advanced vehicle dynamics where Haldex uses sensors and algorithms to get the tractor and trailer to brake and follow the desired direction in an optimal way,
• open and integrable interface with the vehicle manufacturer’s VMM (vehicle motion management), where the vehicle manufacturer maintains control of the VMM and at the same time gets access to all vehicle data,
• a system that works with both pneumatic brake systems and electrified brake systems,
• and an architecture that is modular and scalable.

With the development of autonomous driving, the vehicle system architecture is about to be re-written. Today, the driver does the integration of propulsion, braking and steering. To reach full autonomy, the subsystems need to control accurately and communicate back, for the system to be able to analyze the data and make correct decisions. System integration is thus the key for autonomous driving to become successful.

"System integration requires open communication. Today, only selected data of the wheel end performance is shared in the system, even though most of a vehicle's behavior is determined by the wheel end performance. Haldex wants to change that. We fully believe in open systems where the OEM gets full access to the data from the wheel end.", says Andreas Jähnke, SVP R&D at Haldex. "By developing the brake systems jointly with OEMs, we re-shape the principles for the vehicle system architecture. We know that new and old technology will live side by side for many years. By separating the software from the hardware, you can use the same software functionality to execute different mechanical tasks, hence you can have a vehicle structure which can run both pneumatic and electromechanical brakes."

One of the new products from Haldex that is based on this concept is the Fast Acting Brake Valve (FABV). It results in 15% less stopping distance, but also the ability to ensure that the vehicle runs in the path it intended to, with a stability and predictability you don't see with other technology that is available today. Another product in development that also provides 15% improvement of the stopping distance, compared to air disc brakes, is the Electromechanical disc brake from Haldex. It's currently being tested on electric buses with positive results. The benefit of the electromechanical brake is not only its improved performance compared to today's air disc brakes, but the energy gains you get when you can replace the pneumatic brake system with a full electrical brake system.