Industry News
Torotrak and Xtrac announce licence agreement for F1 Variator development
6th June 2007
The UK toroidal transmission specialist Torotrak plc and the transmission design and manufacturing company Xtrac Ltd have entered into a licence agreement to enable Xtrac to develop continuously variable transmissions for use in the new kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) proposed for F1 motor racing.
In 2009, F1 is introducing new rules that will lower the environmental impact of the sport, and Xtrac will exploit Torotrak’s technology for use in kinetic energy recovery systems within the motorsport industry to assist its customers in meeting them.
Some of the new KERS systems under development will be mechanically based and will use a flywheel. The toroidal traction drive Variator, being developed with Torotrak and using Torotrak’s patented technology, is a central element in these mechanical ‘flywheel-variator KERS’ systems as it provides a continuously variable ratio connection between the flywheel and the vehicle’s driveline, via its gearbox.
The combination of a Torotrak variator – providing mechanical efficiency expected to be over 90% - with a flywheel of advanced construction, results in a highly efficient and compact energy storage system. Whilst Xtrac will supply variator units to its customers, the flywheels for these energy recovery systems are being developed separately by the Formula 1 teams themselves and their specialist suppliers. Torotrak will provide the control system expertise.
Torotrak and Xtrac believe that the variator-flywheel solution provides a significantly more compact, efficient, lighter and environmentally-friendly solution than the traditional alternative of electrical-battery systems.
The two companies consider that the system is applicable to other motor sports and everyday vehicles and see the potential for wider applications – particularly on high-performance road cars – as an aid to performance and also as a means of developing future products with reduced CO2 emission levels.
The system supports the current trend for engine downsizing without the need for complex electrical-battery hybrid architectures.
A CVT-controlled flywheel is particularly suited to stop-start driving situations, when the variator-flywheel system can assist the launch of a vehicle which has slowed down or come to a standstill by utilising the kinetic energy stored in the flywheel. For the F1 applications, the stored kinetic energy can be applied by the driver on demand whenever required - at a rate and for a time period set by the regulations - to boost performance for rapid acceleration.
- After the announcement of the licensing agreement, Torotrak’s shares rose 8.4% at 45 pence, valuing the firm at about £54 million.
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