Magna Wants To Turn Its Pickup’s eBeam Axel into EVs

Until the moment the cars will fly, there is an acute demand for electric vehicles around the world. In America, trucks are a citizen’s best friend, so, the need for an electric one and an affordable one at the same time is the topic now. Magna, the eBeam’s creator wants to deliver an application for the truck with a traditional ladder-frame chassis and liver rear axle.

Electrifying a truck is a trend on the market, but at the same time, other automakers like Ford, Ram, Bollinger, Lordstorm, Rivian, even Canoo are already developing of producing electric hybrid trucks, pickups. Ford’s electric hybrid pickup trucks and  Ram’s eTorque” mild hybrid” system are already one step forward to reach the goal of EVs. But how about the traditional truck that has been manufacture already and is currently driven around?

Magna seems to have found an interim solution and called it eBeam. Now, this is an application created especially for the trucks that come with the traditional ladder-frame chassis and liver rear axle. Theoretically speaking, the eBeam utilizes all the original mounts, suspension, but it eliminates the driveshaft because this is a real integrated e-motor axle that adds 120 or 250 kW power ranges that takes the place originally created for the truck’s “pumpkin”. Now, the company is developing one and two-motor versions to offer torque vectoring across the axle.

So far, we know that the traditional truck capabilities are the ride height, payload, towing, and how these interfere with the truck’s suspension and chassis systems. The actual rear axle has proven its worth and cost-effectiveness in time and is also a cheap and proven solution. Now the eBeam rear axel promises less maintenance. With the suspension and brake system, intact, the towing and vehicle’s payload remain unaffected. Magna that the eBeam can roughly equivalate the live axle, due to its heavy utilization of lightweight aluminum in the eBeam axle.

There are several manufacturers interested in Magna’s technology, but there’s still work to do. The first steps would be integrating it into hybrid and battery-electric powertrains and adjust them as a “normal truck trend”. There’s also lifestyle and workstyle adjustment to do. But the result would be a future of affordable electric vehicles.