Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2018 - 17

EMISSIONS STRATEGIES FEATURE

"With battery prices dropping, we are predicting price parity with diesel ICEs...
sometime between 2020 and 2030." - Jason Gies, AxleTech
see more hybridization than BEVs," he said.
"For both refuse and urban transit, regenerative
braking is an important feature-in both situations you
stop and go constantly," he explained. "Some refuse
vehicles require brake servicing or new brakes on a
weekly basis in heavy urban usage. The brake maintenance cost alone may exceed fuel costs on a diesel
vehicle. This makes electric vehicles that use regenerative braking very appealing to those operators."

BOTH IMAGES: POWERTRAIN SYSTEMS RESEARCH

Urban transit at the tipping point
Some of the industry professionals interviewed for this
feature indicated that urban transit buses may very
well be at the tipping point for full electrification.
"The transit market is shifting to electric vehicles,"
claimed Dr. Gary Horvat, CTO of Proterra, a supplier of
heavy-duty electric transportation. "As our [vehicle]
costs have come down, following the decreases in battery costs, our deliveries have gone up," he said at The
Battery Show North America.
Proterra has sold 670 BEV buses to 72 different agencies, according to the company's website. Horvat showed
a chart of EV bus sales against the market as a whole
that indicated BEV urban transit buses, at least, have
reached an important adoption milestone-about 15% of
the market. In terms of marketing such innovations, this
means the all-important "early majority" class of adopters is buying into the practical benefits of electrified urban transit. Reaching this milestone means electric buses
might be on their way to full adoption.
An example of this adoption trend occurred in August
when Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) ordered 25 new
40-ft (12.2-m) Proterra Catalyst E2 max vehicles, which
will replace 25 of the Canadian city's existing diesel buses. Proterra's electric buses are winter-compatible with a
range of up to 400 km (250 mi), pointed out Eddie
Robar, Branch Manager of ETS, in the announcement.
The new electric buses are projected to deliver a
cost savings of roughly 30% for service and maintenance, according to Proterra. The BEV buses are expected to be in regular service in the summer of 2020.

Accelerating demand, accelerating
solutions
Tier 1 suppliers, who typically serve both commercial
truck and off-road markets, are seeing demand increase.
"The technical development in our industry is fast
[in the] kind of vehicles being electrified. We see the
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

Among a list of desired features, battery-electric compares favorably
with the diesel powertrain for commercial vehicle applications.

Applications where battery-electric attributes align well with needs include
drayage, urban delivery, utility, refuse hauling, and urban transit.
market growth only accelerating and for our side it is important to
keep our technology lead," Tomi Ristimäki, Sales Director, OEM, of
Danfoss Editron, said to Truck & Off-Highway Engineering.
In response to such demand, his company, a segment of Danfoss
Power Solutions, developed its Editron, a complete electric drivetrain
system for inclusion in marine, off-road, or transport systems such as
urban buses. The system is suitable for hybrid and electric applications within the power range of 30 to 2,000 kW.
In October, Danfoss Editron announced delivering electrification
technology to support Pon Equipment AS, an example of the supplier's increasing workload in this area. The work involved transforming diesel-powered 25-ton Cat 323F Z-line machines into electric excavators. Pon Equipment is the official Caterpillar dealer in
the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The transformed
machines can operate for up to seven hours on a single battery
charge under nominal load. The electric excavator is zero-emission
and significantly quieter than the former diesel machine, making it
ideal for use in urban areas with noise restrictions, according to
Danfoss Editron.
December 2018 17

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2018

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