NTN Corporation is pleased to announce the expansion of our “Low Friction Hub Bearing” Series, with the development of two new products with low friction characteristics, “Low Friction Hub Bearing IV” and “Low Friction Hub Bearing V”. These hub bearings were developed to meet the needs of our global automotive OE customer-base, as they strive to make their mobility products more efficient. These latest offerings in NTN’s Low Friction Hub Bearing Series reduces rotational friction by up to 64 percent when compared to conventional designs, contributing to the increase of fuel and electrical efficiency for a wide range of vehicles including electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).

“The newest versions of NTN’s Low Friction Hub Bearings provide notable enhancements over traditional designs, helping our customers achieve their efficiency goals”, said Patrick Harrell, sales director, NTN Automotive Center, “At NTN, our guiding principle is to contribute to society by developing cutting-edge technologies and products. Enhancing mobility efficiency is a perfect example of our dedication our customers and our principles.”

Background of Development

In 2009, NTN developed the “Low Friction Hub Bearing”, which reduces rotational friction while satisfying performance requirements such as operating life and strength. Since then, we have been pursuing further low friction characteristics through engineering advancements such as reducing the number of seal lips by implementing a labyrinth structure on the inner seal and reducing grease viscosity. We have supplied the “Low Friction Hub Bearing” Series to our OE customers and our automotive aftermarket channels, and they have been highly regarded for their low friction characteristics and their contributions to improving fuel and electrical efficiency in many vehicle models.

In order to realize a decarbonized society, the development and popularization of EVs has been accelerating. To extend EV range, it is necessary for EVs to achieve further efficiencies. In response to these needs, NTN developed “Low Friction Hub Bearing IV” in 2023, an improved iteration of its predecessor, and then achieved further efficiencies with the “Low Friction Hub Bearing V”, released in 2024.

Low Friction Hub Bearing IV

Low Friction Hub Bearing IV adopted a newly developed low-torque grease for the outer and inner seals. In addition to reducing the base viscosity of grease, the size of the thickener, which retains base oil and makes it semi-solid, is reduced. Reducing the size of the thickener reduces the amount of thickener required while maintaining retention of the base oil, resulting in further reduction of grease viscosity. These advancements reduce rolling resistance caused by the grease when seals are rotating and reduce rotational friction.

Low Friction Hub Bearing V

In addition to the improvements of “Low Friction Hub Bearing IV,” “Low Friction Hub Bearing V” adopts the newly developed low-torque grease for the inside of bearing. While grease viscosity is reduced by reducing the base oil viscosity and thickener size, grease consistency is optimized so that the grease separated by balls when rotating will not flow back into the raceway. By implementing these advancements, “Low Friction Hub Bearing V” reduces friction by up to 64% compared to conventional designs. It also improves electrical efficiency in EVs by approximately 0.75%, enabling 1.86 miles of vehicle range compared to the conventional product.

NTN’s Low Friction Hub Bearing Series has been deployed globally to meet the diverse needs of our customers and contribute to the improvement of fuel and electrical efficiency of vehicles.