Meritor's modular ePowertrain carries plug-and-play convenience

Few companies have as long a history with axles as Meritor.

The company's story stretches back to 1909, when Timken-Detroit Axle was founded in Detroit. Mergers, name changes and other corporate adjustments over the last century resulted in Meritor Automotive, which was spun off Rockwell International in 1997 to focus on commercial vehicles and industrial business products.

This company became known as Meritor in 2011 and, in 2018, launched a technology brand called Blue Horizon, which is focused on electrification, increased efficiency and connectivity in large vehicles.

It's the Blue Horizon name that Meritor has applied to its modular medium- and heavy-duty ePowertrain system for Class 4-8 commercial vehicles.

The modular format allows Meritor's customers to choose different wheel ends, brakes, transmissions and differential gearing for their trucks.

On top of that, the "e" in ePowertrain brings electric power, and Meritor's system uses electric motors that can offer 268 hp per drive axle, all with a system that Meritor promises will be plug-and-play, since it was designed to use existing suspension mounting points and common parts.

Meritor has been working on zero- emission technology for heavy-duty vehicles since at least 2009, when the company, then called ArvinMeritor, launched its first hybrid drivetrain system specifically designed for line haul trucks. Today, Meritor is testing the ePowertrain system on a few dozen vehicles and is talking with major commercial-vehicle companies to put more miles on the test components. Production is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2021 with 1,200 units a year, ramping up to 10,000 systems annually by 2025.