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Electric truck mines own energy

Kuhn Schweiz in Germany has developed an electrified mining truck that does not need external charging; instead it powers its batteries using captured energy (writes Nick Flaherty). The company took a 111 tonne mining truck from Komatsu and replaced the diesel engine with a...

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Scoping out motors/inverters

The accurate analysis of inverter waveforms without interference from switching noise is a key part of evaluating the motor drive circuit, driving the need for a class of test equipment called a ScopeCorder (writes Nick Flaherty). Between 16 and 18% of the total power in an electric car is consumed as losses in the...

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Diversity gives pack balance

Williams Advanced Engineering has developed a battery pack that combines different types of batteries to balance out the needs of peak and sustained power (writes Nick Flaherty). The first version of the Adaptive MultiChem design combines lithium-ion nickel, manganese, cobalt (NMC) pouch cells to provide...

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Bike battery spreads the load

Curtiss Motorcyles in the US has replicated a V8 engine with a distributed battery pack to provide higher efficiency for its latest Zeus model (writes Nick Flaherty). The Zeus has a skeletal space frame anchored to the custom powertrain architecture. “With the battery cells packaged inside eight cylindrical towers configured in a flaring radial vee pattern, we’re able to...

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Battery data gets cloud cover

A battery management start-up has developed a cloud-based battery monitoring service that can handle data from millions of electric bikes and cars on the road (writes Nick Flaherty). The Edison management software from Indian company Ion Energy uses a design called FS-XT, developed by a technology company in France called...

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All-electric ferry set for launch

The world’s first fully electric ferry is undergoing sea trials in Denmark (writes Nick Flaherty). The Ellen electric ferry is powered by a 4 MW battery pack made up of 840 cells that account for 50 tonnes of the ship’s total weight of 747 tonnes. Unlike other electric vessels, the Ellen has no...

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Paradigm shift in gear control

Hyundai has developed an Active Shift Control (ASC) transmission technology for hybrid electric vehicles that it says is the world’s first (writes Nick Flaherty) The system uses software in the Hybrid Control Unit (HCU) to monitor gearshifts 500 times per second, adjusting the...

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CAN-based cooling module

Technotrans has demonstrated a serialised battery cooling module with a CAN interface for standard comms links. It is aimed at electric buses as well as trucks and heavy commercial road vehicles such as those used around mines, harbours and airports (writes Rory Jackson). “It’s an active cooling solution based on a refrigeration compressor, and we are showcasing a version that runs on...

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E-axle promises lower losses

JLG is developing an electrified aerial lifting platform using electrified axle technology from Dana (writes Nick Flaherty). Dana’s design reduces power losses by up to 20% compared with traditional diesel-powered drivetrains. Dana has developed two approaches to hybridisation and electrification. The first is to use electrified drive systems that fit within current vehicle architectures; the second is...

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BMW/Jaguar e-drive

BMW is to work with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to develop next-generation electric drive units that reduce the use of rare earth elements (writes Nick Flaherty). BMW’s fifth-generation powertrain, called eDrive, combines the electric motor, transmission and power electronics in one housing, and the company says it has eliminated the need for rare earth elements for...