Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/893962
54 | Overdrive | October 2017 C ummins debuted its Aeos Electric Commercial Vehicle Demonstrator, an electric pow- ertrain concept tractor. Aeos features a state-of-the-art battery pack that is lighter and more dense, allowing it to hold a lon- ger charge for improved range and faster charging. The Class 7 truck was designed and built in collaboration with Roush Performance, known for developing high-performance components for street and competitive racing applications. "The charging is a simple plug-in that can return the [140-kilowatt-hour battery pack] to sufficient charge in about an hour," said Julie Furber, Cummins' exec- utive director of electrification business development. Furber believes the charging time can be reduced to as little as 20 minutes by the year 2020. The tractor also re-collects free energy from a regenerative brake system and by driving. To conserve energy, the power- train stops anytime the vehicle stops. The truck also can import energy from solar panels mounted on a trailer roof. Aeos gets the diesel equivalent of more than 30 mpg with a range of 100 miles on a single charge, which can be extend- ed to 300 miles with an additional battery pack. Cummins considers the truck a tech- nology demonstrator for vocational appli- cations, urban delivery operations, port drayage and terminal container handling. It soon will be placed in the hands of partner customers for field trials, Furber said. The truck has a maximum GVWR of 75,000 pounds and a payload capacity of 44,000 pounds. It accelerates up to 35 percent faster than an 11- to 12-liter diesel-powered equivalent vehicle, Furber said. The concept truck design includes an engine-generator option for extended range capabilities, allowing users to ben- efit from Cummins B4.5 or B6.7 engines, providing an advantage over today's hybrid systems. These engine options offer 50 percent fuel savings compared to today's diesel hybrids while yielding zero emissions. Srikanth Padmanabhan, president of Cummins' engine business, said the range extender could be replaced by a fuel cell in the next 20 years. Furber said that while electric region- al-haul trucks will be viable soon, line haul trucks are years away because the additional heavy batteries needed to extend range will sap payload and require a lengthy charge. Padmanabhan estimates that a fill time of five minutes for a tank of diesel fuel could translate to upwards of 400 min- utes to charge a long-haul battery. Concept truck raises bar on battery performance BY JASON CANNON Peak torque from the Cummins Aeos Electric Commercial Vehicle Demonstrator is 2,507 lb.-ft. with a constant torque of 1,364 lb.-ft. and peak power of 469 hp.