Czinger Vehicles and Xtrac Introduce 3D Printed Gearbox

Produced without any tooling and resulting in significant weight reduction, the additive manufactured gearbox is currently undergoing validation in the Czinger 21C and Vmax hypercars.

Czinger Vehicles, Torrance, California, has introduced yet another world-first innovation, partnering with the global leader in Motorsport & High Performance Automotive (HPA) gearbox production, Xtrac, Berkshire, UK, to pioneer the first topology-optimized and additively manufactured gearbox case. The production of the gearbox uses a unique printing process and proprietary aluminum alloy, resulting in significant mass savings, outstanding structural performance, production quality, and efficient printing times. Furthermore, this approach eliminates the need for tooling, achieving a substantial reduction in development time, and the ability to make real-time design improvements. The gearbox is an early example of the company applying this advanced technology to powertrain systems and further enables the 21C’s industry leading performance.

The cutting-edge gearbox boasts leading performance specifications:

• Automated 7‑speed semi‑sequential gearbox.
• First 48V‑electrically actuated twin barrel system resulting in the fastest automated single clutch synchromesh gearbox in existence.
• Dual barrel gear actuation allows for seamless EV‑to‑Rear Drive blending for smooth city driving.
• Sub‑100ms shifts combined with blending of front‑axle EV power allows for seamless shifts for high performance driving.
• Highest torque transmitted per mass of gearcase for any road‑legal vehicle.

Says Czinger Co-Founder and SVP Operations Lukas Czinger, "We are proud to team Czinger's world-class engineers with those at Xtrac; together, we have developed an incredible, industry first, gearbox that is truly at the pinnacle of performance. We can't wait to shatter more track records as we utilize this system in the 21C".