The new engine and transmission division established by Renault and Geely was simply called Horse. An interesting novelty comes from their technological catalog. It is one of the most sophisticated automatic transmissions with record low consumption, which we will only see in the new Renault Rafal.
A normal thing in passenger cars, including SUVs, off-road vehicles and pickup trucks, are automatic transmissions with seven or eight gears. Some brands “went” up to nine and ten speeds.
Ford is one of the conventional brands that offers a ten-speed automatic transmission. However, Horse has gone one step further and produced the most automatic transmission you’ll see in a passenger car – almost as many as trucks.
The world’s first 15-speed automatic transmission has a name, a surname, and we also know in which model it will debut on the market. Renault and Geely are behind everything, and less important is the code under which the new gearbox is hidden – DB49. It is more important that it will debut in the attractive Renault Rafale PHEV, he says Klix.ba.
This automatic transmission was designed by engineers from the two Horse divisions, Spanish and Portuguese, and is specific to plug-in hybrids, supporting a maximum torque of 470 Nm. Technically, it does not have a clutch, a mechanical component that has been replaced by a state-of-the-art electronic unit that is responsible for this gearbox function and switching through 15 speeds, as well as reducing battery power consumption.
The transmission system contains two electric motors, one of them with a maximum power of 35 kW – which is equivalent to 47 hp – and allows a wide variety in different driving modes. Horse engineers have achieved a record weight of just 99 kilograms for the transmission that serves as the link between the 1.2-liter, three-cylinder turbo gasoline engine of 150 hp and two electric motors, adding the total maximum power to 300 “horses”.
The most powerful Rafale has four-wheel drive and a lithium-ion battery, with a maximum electric range of 97 kilometers. But the first 15-speed gearbox in a production car not only helps to squeeze out its 300 hp, but also offers class-leading efficiency, being able to cover up to 25 kilometers on just one liter of petrol.
Source: Klix.ba
Source: autoblog.rs
