You probably think you drive a VW, a Toyota or a Ford, and in a fashion, you do. But you could as legitimately say you drive a Bosch, a Denso or a maybe Magna-Faurecia.

Depending on your brand and model, and when your car was designed, between 50 percent and 80 percent of its content, by value, came straight from one or more automotive suppliers, companies that make car components for a variety of automakers but not complete cars. In occasional instances, the value contributed by a single supplier can surpass that provided by the carmaker. Wall Street and auto industry analysts peg the average supplier content in a new automobile at about 65 percent.

Supplier content has increased steadily the last three decades, and the old concept of captive suppliers (those owned by and solely serving a particular carmaker) such as Delphi or Visteon no longer applies. Supplier value is expected to continue climbing in years ahead, spurred to some extent as engines -- one of the last bastions of complete OEM development -- are increasingly supplemented or replaced by electric motors. Few things illustrate this shift as succinctly as the ZF mSTARS electric propulsion module.

mSTARS is what tier-one supplier ZF calls its modular, scalable electric drivetrain, packed in a rear suspension subframe that bolts right in. Add batteries or a fuel cell to mSTARS, and poof! You’ve got an instant, fully developed pure electric or hybrid powertrain. And just to be clear, there are lots of people who’ll sell you batteries or a fuel-cell and help you figure out where to fit them.

ZF uses mSTARS to power its VW Touran-based Vision Zero (for zero emissions, zero fatalities) development vehicle, but that’s hardly the point. The point is to sell VW, Toyota or Ford a million plug-and-play, rear-drive electric car modules.

mSTARS (for modular Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension) is a passenger car axle combining driveline and chassis technology in a single, compact module. It uses separate springs and shocks, and the module requires no more space under a unitbody than the typical multilink rear suspension. Yet its independent semi-trailing arm configuration opens a whole bunch of room -- enough to pack in a 201-hp electric motor, power electronics with furnished software, a differential and a two-stage spur-drive transmission. ZF will be happy to add the shocks (conventional or adaptive) and a rear-steer mechanism a la Porsche Panamera before it ships the mSTARS module.

ZF's Vision Zero development vehicle is a VW Touran fitted with the Tier One supplier's mSTARS electric-drive module and 30 kWH battery

ZF will presumably sell mSTARS to any carmaker who wants it, but the concept would seem particularly appealing to smaller automakers with limited R&D resources -- perhaps a Subaru or a Mazda. As demands for electrification increase, mSTARS presents an immediate, viable solution. Mazda might take its 6 sedan or CX-5 crossover, install an appropriately scaled mSTARS and add as much battery as can fit -- say, under the back seat or as part of the cargo floor. Voila. Mazda now has all-wheel-drive hybrids with XX miles of electric-only range, for some relatively modest integration cost and the piece price of ZF’s part. Or how ‘bout the first fuel-cell Miata?

ZF says mSTARS is ready for serial production, but it won’t (probably can’t) say if it’s already signed any automakers. We can be sure ZF hasn’t spent millions developing mSTARS for the exercise.

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