TransPower | Trading Diesel for Kilowatts | TransPower

Trading Diesel for Kilowatts

April 23, 2015
|

From TruckingInfo website, March, 2015.
by Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Trading Diesel for Kilowatts

If trucks “burn” electricity instead of diesel or gasoline, the air stays clean and fuel bills are lower.

In California, electric vehicles’ zero tailpipe emissions are golden because a fight against smog has been under way for many years. That’s why Transportation Power Inc. has been designing and testing heavy drayage and yard tractors. Five of each are now at work, according to President Mike Simon, who hopes to have 1,000 or more electric trucks of various types running by the end of the decade.

TransPower battery-electric tractors are converted from International ProStar daycab models with diesel powertrains at the firm’s plant in Poway, north of San Diego. Engines and manual transmissions are pulled out and replaced with electric components: five large boxes containing lithium ion phosphate batteries; specially engineered electronic inverters and controls; and a pair of electric motors running through an Eaton Ultrashift 10-speed automated mechanical transmission, which multiplies the motors’ power and torque.

Read the rest of the article Trading Diesel for Kilowatts.

Transpower ElecTruck battery-electric tractor.

Leave a Comment

Your feedback is valuable for us. Your email will not be published.