The Naudic Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) technology, invented by Barloworld CVT Technologies MD, Dr Jan Naude, is poised to become one of the most important developments in vehicle history.

“After some years of development, we have now geared up to take our technology to the market. Our first port of call will be the United States, where we will be seeing some of the world's leading vehicle OEM's who have shown interest in the technology, says Dr Naude.

CVT Technology has been around since the 18th century but was unable to be commercially exploited until the industrial revolution and traction fluid technology. But it was not until the early 1980's that the technology became a really viable option as traction fluid and belt technology came of age.

The problem however was that although these conventional CVT's were, in themselves, revolutionary, the frictional energy losses ensured that they were not as efficient as a manual gearbox.

The single most important mission for the CVT industry was to find a way to make CVT's at least equal in efficiency to manual gearboxes and we are the first to have accomplished this, says Dr Naude.

The result is two transmissions, the Naudic iCVT and the Naudic rotorCVT, both of which having been patented in several countries around the world.

The technology of the Incremental Continuously Variable Transmission (iCVT) is based on a variable sprocket, which alters ratios by either adding or removing a single tooth in the process of the chain engaging the sprocket.

Naude says that research has shown that the iCVT is the first and only prototype-proven positively driven CVT in the world and is at least as efficient as a manual gearbox.

The rotorCVT is a two-stage parallel machine, incorporating ratcheting technology to eliminate point contact stresses and rippled output associated with conventional ratcheting CVT's. This unit, like its bigger brother, the iCVT, is remarkably simple in its design yet extremely robust.

Part of the success of this technology is that it accomplishes the necessary efficiencies while being extremely simple in construction, says Naude.

Talking about the way his company does business, Dr Naude stresses that it is exclusively an Intellectual Property (IP) company, which sells the rights to interested parties to utilize its technology.

We are not in the business of manufacturing or distributing transmissions. All we do is sell the evaluation and manufacturing licences for the technology we develop.

Fuel saving and emission control is certainly one of the most burning issues in world industry today and the potential for a transmission that can make a significant difference in both these areas is obviously huge.

Fuel efficiency is the core issue in the vehicle industries, says Naude, and we are confident that our technology will make a real difference. From the moment we decided to bring it to the market, we have been inundated with inquiries from all over the world.

Asked whether he would be concentrating on any particular segment of the market Naude explained that initially they would be putting most of the marketing effort behind the larger, more powerful iCVT.

While our initial focus will be on the iCVT, this does not tie us down to any particular segment as it has application in cars, buses, tractors, trucks and almost anything which requires a transmission. he concluded.

Barloworld CVT Technologies is part of the South African based Barloword group, a leading global industrial conglomeration.