* DC - Wrightspeed replaces medium- and heavy-duty vehicle powertrains with hybrids
(Photo: A Wrightspeed powertrain)
... Wrightspeed, has been building range-extended electric powertrains that companies like Fedex can use to completely replace the conventional internal combustion bits on their existing trucks... Focusing on the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle market made plenty of sense, Wright told us. "A vehicle needs to use at least 4,000 gallons (15,150 liters) of fuel a year to make the cost of a hybrid powertrain worthwhile, which happens to be about as much as a delivery truck" ...
Wrightspeed's powertrain uses high-speed permanent magnet motors (unlike the induction motors used by Tesla), one for either side of a driven axle. These motors send their power to the driven wheels via a two-speed transmission. The batteries (from A123) are lithium-ion phosphate, and Wright told us that the battery architecture and chemistry was chosen carefully—as were the inverters—to cope with regenerating up to 1,000 hp (730 kW) during deceleration. Wrightspeed has also developed its own range-extender engine, a turbine called the Fulcrum. This generates 107 hp (80 kW) and weighs 250 lb (113 kg), about a tenth the weight of a similarly powerful piston engine...
Wright told us that one of the company's range-extended electric powertrains should pay for itself through fuel savings within three to four years. Equipping a fleet of medium-duty trucks costs between $50,000 and $100,000 per vehicle, with a heavy-duty vehicle like a garbage truck costing closer to $200,000... Between 1990 and 2012, the amount of carbon emitted by the biggest vehicles on the road have increased by 74 percent; by contrast, passenger cars and small trucks have risen by just under 14 percent over the same period...
Washington, DC, USA - Ars Technica, by Jonathan M. Gitlin - Jun 8, 2015Labels: hybrids trucks, truckmakers' news USA
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