Press Release

Metrology Solutions for eMobility

Seamless quality assurance and quality control for the entire powertrain with ZEISS eMobility Solutions

6 May 2019

OBERKOCHEN/Germany, STUTTGART/Germany | 06 May 2019 | Industrial Quality Solutions

With ZEISS eMobility Solutions, ZEISS is offering metrology and inspection solutions that provide seamless quality assurance for the entire powertrain in hybrid, electronic and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. ZEISS will present selected solutions at the Control trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany, from 7-10 May 2019.

ZEISS is responding to the move toward eMobility in the automotive industry – a transformation that will impact the powertrain as well. Whereas a combustion engine and highly complex multi-gear drives currently enable vehicle propulsion, a battery, power electronics, an electric motor and a two-speed transmission will do this in the future. Vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers are already developing new production and assembly processes.

"ZEISS is leading the way when it comes to quality assurance for vehicles with combustion engines," says Patrick Stempfle, Project Manager for New Energy Vehicles at ZEISS. "This expertise complements our optical know-how and sensors. We are now applying this to electric vehicles and thus supporting the automotive industry with electrification by helping them meet the increasingly stringent requirements in quality assurance." ZEISS eMobility Solutions address all four core components – the battery, performance electronics, the electric motor and the powertrain. "ZEISS is the only one-stop shop for quality assurance solutions that cover the entire powertrain for an electric vehicle – from energy to eMotion," adds Dr. Robert Zarnetta, Head of Industrial Microscopy Applications at ZEISS. The range of measuring tasks is on the rise, ranging from contact measuring jobs and optical measurements to X-ray microscopy.

From energy to eMotion

From energy to eMotion

The battery

The battery plays a pivotal role in determining the performance, range, reliability and service life of an electric vehicle. The quality criteria necessitate the selection of suitable raw materials, the creation of a design with exact dimensions for the cells, modules and battery trays and narrow tolerances during final assembly. Here, light, electron and X-ray microscopes as well as computed tomography and coordinate measuring machines from ZEISS are used.

Power electronics

Power electronics control the flow of energy between the battery and the eMotor. Performing quality inspection for semiconductors, circuit boards and completed electronic modules ensures their efficiency and reliability together with miniaturization and improved performance. Customers benefit in particular from electron and X-ray microscopes for measurements of just a few microns, contact measuring technology and automated image processing techniques in the millimeter range – all of which are part of the comprehensive ZEISS product portfolio.

The electric motor

Electric motors are true powerhouses. To ensure they offer optimum performance, all components must meet maximum quality requirements in production. The production and assembly of stator and hairpins along with the sheets of metal comprising a stator and rotor present a particular challenge when manufacturing the latest generation of motors. ZEISS covers the complete quality assurance spectrum with contact and optical measuring machines.

The powertrain

Just two fixed gears instead of switching between nine different gears with combustion engines – the arrival of electric cars will mean major changes, starting with the motor and extending to the powertrain. The latter consists of a motor and transmission, which are found in the same housing. This reduces the number of components and thus the weight, albeit not the quality requirements. To ensure optimum performance, less wear and as little noise as possible, various measurement and inspection steps be carefully matched. ZEISS offers all the necessary measurement tools for this.

ZEISS eSolutions is a complete package, including consultation. "ZEISS eMobility Solutions make us the leading partner for solutions that enable seamless quality assurance for the electrification of powertrains," says Andrzej Grzesiak, Head of Metrology Systems at ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions.

PRESS CONTACT Bernd Balle ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 8.8 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2022).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 40,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities (status: 31 March 2023). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions

ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is a leading manufacturer of multidimensional metrology solutions. These include coordinate measuring machines, optical and multisensor systems, microscopy systems for industrial quality assurance as well as metrology software for the automotive, aircraft, mechanical engineering, plastics and medical technology industries. Innovative technologies such as 3D X-ray metrology for quality inspection round off the portfolio. In addition, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions offers a broad global spectrum of customer services with ZEISS Quality Excellence Centers close to its customers. The company is headquartered in Oberkochen. Production and development sites outside Germany are located in Minneapolis in the USA, Shanghai (China) and Bangalore (India). ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions is part of the Industrial Quality & Research segment.

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