Independent Testing Confirms Benefits of TransPower Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle Technologies
SAN DIEGO and RIVERSIDE, Calif., May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Transportation Power Inc. ("TransPower"), a leading provider of clean vehicle and stationary energy storage technologies and products, today announced results of independent laboratory testing at the University of California, Riverside ("UCR"). The testing confirms the significant reliability, environmental benefits, and economic advantages offered by heavy-duty trucks and tractors using TransPower's electric vehicle ("EV") technologies.
"The results demonstrate that TransPower's electric drive technology is not only safe, reliable, and clean, but they show a clear business case for adoption of our technology," stated Frank Falcone, TransPower's Director of Powertrain Engineering. "For a truck with a half a million mile operating life, the energy cost savings predicted by the CE-CERT testing would amount to $630,000 over the life of the truck. We estimate that with maintenance savings, total life-cycle savings could exceed $700,000 and that could increase to $1 million or more with higher fuel prices."
These benefits were demonstrated during recent testing of a Class 8 on-road truck and a Class 8 off-road yard tractor using the latest version of TransPower's "ElecTruck™" heavy-duty EV drive system. The tests were performed in September 2014, utilizing a chassis dynamometer at UCR's renowned College of Engineering – Center for Environmental Research & Technology ("CE-CERT").
A Navistar International Pro-Star® Class 8 truck equipped with TransPower's ElecTruck™ system "performed all tests with a high degree of reliability," according to an April 2015 report just released by CE-CERT. Additional conclusions contained in this CE-CERT report include:
- The TransPower-powered truck "consumed only about half as much battery energy per mile" as the most recent competing electric truck tested by CE-CERT, which was evaluated in 2011.
- Accounting for the greenhouse gases ("GHG") produced by power plants to generate the electricity used by the TransPower-powered truck, the vehicle "is expected to reduce GHG in typical drayage drive cycles by 67-68%." This represents a net reduction of more than a ton of GHG for every 1,000 miles the truck is driven, as compared with an equivalent diesel truck.
CE-CERT testing of a Kalmar Ottawa yard tractor powered by the ElecTruck™ system produced similar results. The TransPower electric tractor produced about three times the emissions reductions of a comparable hybrid-electric tractor tested a few years earlier. Tests of both TransPower vehicles were performed at equivalent total vehicle weights of up to 72,000 pounds, confirming the high performance of the ElecTruck™ system.
The TransPower vehicles also demonstrated favorable economics. CE-CERT tests indicated that:
- TransPower's on-road truck has an equivalent energy cost of 23 cents per mile, as compared with $1.49 per mile for a typical diesel truck – an 85% reduction.
- TransPower's electric tractor has an energy cost of 31 cents per mile, compared with $1.12 per mile for an equivalent diesel yard tractor and 99 cents per mile for the latest hybrid yard tractor tested by CE-CERT.
These results have been confirmed by real-world operations. Since being deployed at IKEA's main California distribution center in September 2014, the TransPower electric yard tractor tested by CE-CERT has had an energy cost of 25 cents/mile when using power supplied by the utility grid. However, as 90% of this tractor's energy is produced by solar arrays installed at IKEA's facility, the actual energy cost of operating this tractor has been less than 3 cents per mile. Please see charts below.
About TransPower
Transportation Power, Inc., doing business as TransPower, is a privately-held California company that develops and provides clean vehicle and stationary energy storage technologies and products. TransPower has developed a proprietary "ElecTruck™" integrated electric drive system for large trucks, tractors, and buses. TransPower has also developed the "Grid-Saver" fast energy storage system, designed to maximize commonality with TransPower's electric vehicle products, including lithium battery modules, battery management systems, and energy management technology. In addition, TransPower is developing drive products using state of the art hybrid-electric and fuel cell hybrid propulsion systems.
For more information visit www.transpowerusa.com.
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SOURCE TransPower
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