Recent convert: The startup Alt-e replaced the V-8 in a Ford F-150 pickup truck with a small, 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine and electric motor, the top of which is shown here.
Alt-e
Companies hope to turn aging trucks, vans, and taxis into more efficient hybrids.
A handful of companies hope to carve a new niche by converting fleets of gas- or diesel-powered trucks, vans, and cars into hybrids and plug-in hybrids--and they're attracting millions of dollars of funding to do it. In some cases, they say, the conversions could pay for themselves in fuel and maintenance savings in just a few years.
XL Hybrids plans to convert taxis, delivery trucks and other fleet vehicles into hybrids, cutting the vehicles' fuel consumption by 15 to 30 percent. Alt-E, a startup founded by former Tesla Motors engineers, is similarly targeting fleet vehicles, but it plans to make plug-in hybrids that can drive for roughly 40 miles on the energy stored in a battery that's recharged by plugging in. Once that stored charge is used up, Alt-E's vehicle will act like a conventional hybrid with fuel economy of 32 miles per hour--more than double that of the prototype vehicle it is working with--a Ford F150 pickup. Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies (HEVT) plans to offer both hybrid and plug-in hybrid conversions for a range of vehicles.
Next year, major automakers will start selling their own plug-in hybrids--vehicles that can be recharged from electrical outlets but also have gasoline engines to extend their range. The first one--the Chevy Volt--will go on sale at the end of the year, with other automakers following suit over the next couple of years.
At first, however, only a few plug-in hybrid models will be available, and these won't fill the needs of many customers, such as companies with fleets of trucks and vans, especially those that have been customized for specific applications. This is also still the case with conventional hybrids, even though they were first on the market 10 years ago. There are some hybrid taxis on the roads today, but taxi drivers in cities such as Boston and New York have resisted mandates to switch entirely to the hybrid models now available, says Amy Fazen, vice president of business operations at XL Hybrid.
The conversions companies hope to fill this niche. While the scale of conversions will be limited, these companies could serve to prod major automakers to offer a greater variety of these vehicles, say some automotive analysts.
The startups are taking various approaches. Alt-E, based in Auburn Hills, MI, plans to gut conventional vehicles, replacing the engine with a combination of electric motor, battery packs, electronic controls, and a gasoline generator. So far the company has raised about $28 million from individual investors and in government funding.
The other two companies plan more modest conversions--tacking an electric motor, battery, and controls onto the existing engine and transmission via the drive shaft that emerges from the engine to drive the wheels or the rear differential, which translates the motion of the drive shaft to the rear axle. XL Hybrid, based in Somerville, MA, has raised $1.8 million from individual investors, and Chicago, IL-based HEVT has raised roughly $1 million.
The companies have all developed proprietary control systems to connect their equipment with the vehicles' existing computers and coordinate between the gasoline engines and electric motors. Prices range from $26,500 for Alt-E's F150 conversion (about the cost of new, low end F150) to under $10,000 for XL Hybrids' conversion of delivery vans or taxis. All the companies are at an early stage of development and have so far only converted a one or two vehicles.
A hydraulic hybrid technology lets trucks burn a third less fuel than they normally would.
Battery breakthroughs could lower costs and improve performance for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage--but commercializing these new technologies will be challenging.
A new partnership could help the automaker increase the range of its vehicles.
we're empty nesters and finally a two-seat pick-up is a practical option. particularly practical when you think about getting rid of all that STUFF while downsizing. however no manufacturer has any real plans for a hybrid compact pick-up. perhaps there's more like us who might buy a rehab from one of these firms.
By converting the vehicles to Hybrids, will the owners be stuck with something that has no warranty?
There was some hype and scare tactics used by Auto Manufacturers a few years ago when people started converting their cars to E 85. That was a simple chnage of plugs, some fuel lines and an adjustment to the carburator I believe.
Converting to Hybrid goes way beyond this. Anybody know how the warranties will fare?
Hybrids are neither more efficient nor less polluting. Not when their manufacturing and battery disposal costs are considered over a typical vehicle lifetime.
PG&E And Raser Announce E-REV Fleet Truck Program
Raser has teamed with FEV in the development of this advanced plug-in series, hybrid drive system designed to drive SUVs and light trucks under full electric power to achieve over 100 mpg in local daily driving.
Although the 100 miles is a little bit of marketing, it looks like this works well. Other big companies are showing interest. Hyundai Heavy Industries is ones of those.
Maybe this company should be getting more coverage.
http://www.rasertech.com/media/videos/plug-in-2010
http://www.rasertech.com/motors-and-drives/products/drive-systems/series-phev-drive-system
Great roundup of conversion companies
This whole area is gathering momentum and attention. CalCars.org, having declared victory on our initial goal of spurring mass-production of plug-in hybrids, is devoting most of our nonprofit advocacy/technology development group's attention to making the case for retrofits of millions of gas-guzzlers.
We predict that in the next year, the growing support for these and other companies will lead to a recognition that there's a business and technical case for high-volume, warrantied, safe, drivable conversions. And we're proposing that for large vehicles that stay on the road for decades, the federal government provide incentives equivalent to those provided for new plug-in vehicles.
See our white paper on why we need to convert vehicles if we're going to have a significant impact on petroleum reduction in the next 15 years (new PHEVs and EVs will arrive too slowly to make much difference until then), and to see the companies we're tracking that are working in this area, all at http://www.calcars.org/ice-conversions.html .
-- Felix Kramer, Founder, The California Cars Initiative
P.S. Electric miles are half the CO2 of gasoline miles on the national (half-coal) grid, and the costs and energy used in production amount to a small fraction of the energy saved by plug-in vehicles.
Properly driven, hybrids reclaim kinetic energy of moving vehicles when they are braked. There need not be any heat lost in the braking system when slowing down a vehicle, and no energy lost when going downhill. Which is one reason why hybrids like the Prius give such fantastic consumption. Besides, charging electricity can also come from nuclear generation or from hydro-electric gneration such as, for example, the James Bay hydro-electric development which, by the way, cools the arctic ocean in comparison with the historic behavior of rivers draining north.
T. Virany, PEng, Ottawa Canada.'
hybrid gas/hydraulic retrofit?
Anyone coming to market with hybrid gas/hydraulic or diesel/hydraulic conversions?
Re: hybrid gas/hydraulic retrofit?
Bosch Rexroth and Eaton have diesel/hydraulic retro models. Eaton calls it HLA; Bosch calls their HRB. Both are post-transmission installs and capable to class 8.
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shatuga
17 Comments
Where is the power for plugins?
I am still very concerned with where the power for plugins might come from. It's true that responsible use of it can pull it off of excess during peak low generation times, but I cringe on the word "responsible" here.
And right now, we seem to be topping our mountains for coal at an alarming rate. I invite you to do a little research on "mountaintop removal" and think about the implications of plugin electric vehicles.
From reading the many articles here on batteries and new power generation methods, perhaps we might wait a bit? And in any case stop trading something relatively permanent - a mountain - for something temporary - less than a year's supply of coal ?
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