ZF Friedrichshafen AG has won the title “Truck Innovation Award 2027” for its TraXon Hybrid transmission system, recognised by the International Truck of the Year jury as the year’s most outstanding innovation in commercial vehicle technology.
On behalf of the jury of 25 renowned trade journalists Chairman Florian Engel presented the prestigious award to Andreas Moser, Member of the Board of Management ZF Friedrichshafen AG, during the Night of the Stars gala evening held at the IAA Transportation in Hanover on Monday, September 14th 2026.
The Truck Innovation Award – which recognises the profound technological transformation and energy transition taking place in the commercial vehicle industry – is presented by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) jury. The internationally composed jury consists of 25 trade journalists from leading commercial vehicle publications in Europe and South Africa.
With TraXon Hybrid, ZF integrates hybrid technology directly into the transmission architecture of heavy commercial vehicles. The system combines ZF’s established expertise in heavy-duty transmissions with its experience in electrified powertrains, providing vehicle manufacturers with an additional route towards reducing fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.
The concept is particularly relevant for markets and transport applications in which the transition to fully electric heavy-duty vehicles is progressing at different speeds in different applications. By integrating an electric drive into the TraXon transmission platform, the system enables manufacturers to incorporate hybrid functionality into conventional driveline architectures while retaining the flexibility required for a broad range of heavy-duty applications.
TraXon Hybrid can support several functions associated with electrified powertrains, including recuperation of braking energy, electric assistance of the combustion engine and electric driving depending on the respective vehicle configuration and application. In this way, hybridization can reduce the workload of the combustion engine and improve overall drivetrain efficiency, particularly in operating conditions with frequent changes in speed and load.
The solution also demonstrates how established heavy-duty powertrain technologies can continue to evolve during the transition towards zero-emission transport. Rather than relying on a single technological pathway, TraXon Hybrid provides truck manufacturers with an additional option for improving efficiency and reducing emissions while adapting their product strategies to different infrastructure, regulatory and operational conditions around the world.
With a total score of 77 jury points, ZF prevailed over four other finalists representing some of the most significant current areas of innovation in road freight transport: BYD’s Flash Charging and Blade Battery 2.0, cellcentric’s BZA375 Fuel Cell, the Level 4 autonomous driving programme from IVECO and PlusAI, and Scania ProDriver.
The award jury recognised TraXon Hybrid for combining a high degree of technical innovation with clear potential for practical application in heavy-duty transport. The technology offers manufacturers another means of reducing fuel consumption and emissions while supporting the transition towards increasingly electrified commercial vehicle powertrains.
At the award ceremony, IToY jury chairman Florian Engel emphasised: “By intelligent integration of hybridization into a proven Heavy-Duty Transmission platform, ZF TraXon Hybrid demonstrates that the transition towards more sustainable road freight transport is defined by a wide portfolio of different Technologies.”
