Source: GKN Automotive

By 2025, the company expects to produce around one million eDrive units per year for global markets

GKN Automotive is expecting the sales of electrified drivelines to grow over 141% year-on-year (y/y) in 2020, the company announced in a press release on 26 February. The growth includes six new major mass production projects in 2020. The company expects to be producing around one million eDrive units per year  by 2025 for global markets.

The company also said that it has started winter testing its latest 3-in-1 G400 eDrive unit in Arjeplog, Sweden, using Tesla Model 3 and Fiat Ducato platforms as testbeds. This includes a GKN Automotive eMotor (126 kW), inverter, offset gearbox with open differential, and software controls integrated into both vehicles' electrical architectures. In the Tesla platform, the scalable system is integrated on the rear axle, and in the Ducato body, it is on the front axle.

“The application of our G400 eDrive module into two very different vehicle platforms showcases how we are evolving and refining our scalable electric driveline technologies. As our order book continues to grow rapidly, we are accelerating the development of our standardised range of eDrive units to cater for a variety of platform sizes and torque requirements,” said Hannes Prenn, CEO of GKN Automotive ePowertrain.

Significance: GKN Automotive has been developing eDrive technologies since 2002 and has delivered over one million eDrive units, including integrated 2-in-1 eMotor and transmission modular systems such as the ERAD in the Volvo XC60 and XC90, and the new LEVC TX5 London taxi. GKN Automotive also supports numerous other OEMs with their evolving line-ups of electrified vehicles, including Groupe PSA and FCA. The DS 7 CROSSBACK E-TENSE 4×4, which launched in Europe at the beginning of 2020, features GKN Automotive’s latest advanced eAxle technology.

The company is now focusing on developing a range of 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 electric drive systems for pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, to cover all mass-market torque requirements from 2,000 Nm to 5,800 Nm. To meet this increased demand, GKN acquired inverter development capabilities by establishing a partnership with power electronics specialist Delta Electronics Inc.

By integrating their transmission and eMotor technology with Delta’s inverters into modular units, GKN Automotive is looking to decrease costs and reduce component packaging for automakers. In its latest G400 modular eDrive unit, the systems are set up as a '2-in-1' (eMotor and transmission) plus inverter configuration. The inverter retains its own separate housing at Wintertest, for maximum serviceability, but will eventually be fully integrated.

Contacts

Copyright © 2025 S&P Global Inc. All rights reserved.

These materials, including any software, data, processing technology, index data, ratings, credit-related analysis, research, model, software or other application or output described herein, or any part thereof (collectively the “Property”) constitute the proprietary and confidential information of S&P Global Inc its affiliates (each and together “S&P Global”) and/or its third party provider licensors. S&P Global on behalf of itself and its third-party licensors reserves all rights in and to the Property. These materials have been prepared solely for information purposes based upon information generally available to the public and from sources believed to be reliable.
Any copying, reproduction, reverse-engineering, modification, distribution, transmission or disclosure of the Property, in any form or by any means, is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of S&P Global. The Property shall not be used for any unauthorized or unlawful purposes. S&P Global’s opinions, statements, estimates, projections, quotes and credit-related and other analyses are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact or recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security, and there is no obligation on S&P Global to update the foregoing or any other element of the Property. S&P Global may provide index data. Direct investment in an index is not possible. Exposure to an asset class represented by an index is available through investable instruments based on that index. The Property and its composition and content are subject to change without notice.

THE PROPERTY IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS. NEITHER S&P GLOBAL NOR ANY THIRD PARTY PROVIDERS (TOGETHER, “S&P GLOBAL PARTIES”) MAKE ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE PROPERTY’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THE PROPERTY WILL OPERATE IN ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, NOR ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO ITS ACCURACY, AVAILABILITY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS, OR TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE PROPERTY. S&P GLOBAL PARTIES SHALL NOT IN ANY WAY BE LIABLE TO ANY RECIPIENT FOR ANY INACCURACIES, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE. Without limiting the foregoing, S&P Global Parties shall have no liability whatsoever to any recipient, whether in contract, in tort (including negligence), under warranty, under statute or otherwise, in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any recipient as a result of or in connection with the Property, or any course of action determined, by it or any third party, whether or not based on or relating to the Property. In no event shall S&P Global be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees or losses (including without limitation lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Property even if advised of the possibility of such damages. The Property should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions.

The S&P Global logo is a registered trademark of S&P Global, and the trademarks of S&P Global used within this document or materials are protected by international laws. Any other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The inclusion of a link to an external website by S&P Global should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the website's owners (or their products/services). S&P Global is not responsible for either the content or output of external websites. S&P Global keeps certain activities of its divisions separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain divisions of S&P Global may have information that is not available to other S&P Global divisions. S&P Global has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P Global may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P Global reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P Global Ratings’ public ratings and analyses are made available on its sites, www.spglobal.com/ratings (free of charge) and www.capitaliq.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P Global publications and third party redistributors.