Murommashzavod has launched production of portal axles with a pair of traction electric motors for electric buses. Previously, KamAZ electric buses used similar units from the European brand ZF and the Chinese brand HanDe, which turned out to be more expensive and less durable.
The cost of one Chinese-made portal axle currently stands at about 3 million rubles. The Russian counterpart costs about 2.5 million rubles, Motor magazine found. The localization level of the new unit reaches 84%: electric motors, inverters, axle beams, and a number of other components are manufactured in Murom.
It is noted that the bolts of the spring brake accumulators bear the ZIL marking. This is due to the fact that the Moscow plant legally owns the enterprise that manufactures fastening products.
The new portal axles can be installed on KamAZ, Volgabus, LiAZ, and Sinara — City Machines vehicles. The current output exceeds 200 axles per year, and if necessary production can be expanded to 3 thousand units annually.
A total of 2.2 billion rubles has been invested in setting up the production, of which 1.75 billion rubles was provided by the federal Industrial Development Fund. Part of the funds was allocated to organizing the production of steering racks.