Electrification Efforts Advance Through Engineering Collaboration

Partnerships between companies are becoming increasingly important to help advance new technology.

Industry partnerships are nothing new in the heavy-duty equipment design industry. However, their prevalence has seemed to grow in recent years particularly as development efforts for electrification have progressed.

In late 2020, Daimler and Volvo Group announced they would work together on a joint venture aimed at advancing development of fuel cells for heavy-duty on-highway vehicles. Both companies have been actively working in the electrification space and will be able to bring together years of experience.

When it comes to electrification of mobile applications, there are a variety of technologies coming together and no single company can master and integrate those technologies in order to provide customers an optimized solution, says Kimmo Rauma, Vice President of Danfoss Power Solutions.

Because of this, company collaborations are becoming increasingly important to help advance new technology. Companies which collaborate with one another can bring their individual expertise to a project. Rauma says each company’s engineering team can focus on designing the components it already knows best; then the teams can work closely together to bring their technologies into a single, cohesive system that will meet customer requirements.

Creating optimized solutions

Danfoss Editron—a business division of Danfoss Power Solutions—announced in April 2021 it was partnering with Meritor Inc. and Electra Commercial Vehicles to form the Meritor-led Electric Powertrain Integration for Heavy Commercial Vehicles (EPIC) consortium. The consortium’s goal is to develop advanced electric powertrains.

Each company will bring its own industry expertise to the project. Danfoss Editron, for instance, will bring its knowledge developing electric motors and inverters. According to Rauma, the company will be looking at how it can increase power density further through adjustments to the mechanics, cooling and total system package.

He says Danfoss Editron will work together with Meritor and Electra to create an e-axle package which uses less materials to provide a more optimized solution in terms of cost and performance.

Ensuring a high level of efficiency and performance is a key aspect of the project, as well. To achieve this, Rauma says new technologies for the motor and power electronics used for the controller will be necessary. “We want to introduce a silicon carbide design so that we have the most sophisticated control methods in this application area.”

When developing these types of systems, Rauma says companies can optimize the components individually or look at the whole picture and optimize all the components as a single unit to get the best solution package. “Our target with Meritor is to be close partners so we can optimize the package in a way that the competition cannot match us,” he says.

“The cooperation really brings all the key understandings of these companies together so that we can make an optimal solution for the end customer,” he adds.

Rauma says the partnership with Meritor is a very close one “because otherwise we are not able to meet the timetables and the technology targets that we have put ourselves against.” The companies don’t want to create technology that is already available in the market, but instead bring something new to the industry.

“The engineering teams are working more or less as one, sharing information and trying to find out the methods that [enable] the next steps of what is available or possible,” says Rauma.

Partnership can expand application uses

In January 2021, Proterra announced it was collaborating with Komatsu on the development of a battery-electric hydraulic excavator which Komatsu expects to begin commercial production on in 2023-2024. Proterra will be providing its battery technology.

This is the first off-highway equipment project for Proterra which is probably best known for its electric buses. However, its Proterra Powered business offers battery packs for use in other OEMs’ vehicles and equipment. Claire McConnell, Vice President of Proterra Powered, says the company’s battery systems are now utilized in everything from its own transit buses to school buses and delivery vehicles.

“One of the segments that we've actually been most excited about and believe is especially right for electrification is construction equipment,” says McConnell. “It's a major contributor to air pollution, especially in our cities and neighborhoods where most construction projects are located.”

She says Proterra is very flexible in how it works with OEM partners and that it is able to bring its full electrification expertise to partnerships like the one with Komatsu.

Proterra’s battery technology platform is flexible, as well, which enables it to easily be customized to various applications. McConnell notes the battery platform offers a high level of energy density and ruggedized housing to withstand use in harsh operating environments.

“Packaging flexibility helps enable optimal placement of the Proterra batteries within the Komatsu electric excavator and actually replaces the need for a normal counterweight used to balance the excavator’s hydraulic arm movements,” she explains.

Additionally, she says Proterra designs its battery packs for commercial vehicles from the ground up, which enables it to ensure they provide the durability and safety required in heavy-duty applications.

通过工程合作推进电气化努力
公司之间的合作关系对于推动新技术的发展正变得越来越重要。在重型设备设计行业，行业合作并不是什么新鲜事。然而，近年来，特别是随着电气化发展工作的进展，这种情况似乎越来越普遍。2020年底，戴姆勒(Daimler)和沃尔沃集团(Volvo Group)宣布，他们将合作成立一家合资企业，旨在推进重型公路车辆燃料电池的开发。两家公司都在电气化领域积极工作，将能够汇集多年的经验。丹佛斯电力解决方案副总裁Kimmo Rauma说，当谈到移动应用的电气化时，有各种各样的技术结合在一起，没有一家公司能够掌握和集成这些技术，以便为客户提供优化的解决方案。正因为如此，公司合作对于推动新技术的发展变得越来越重要。相互合作的公司可以将他们个人的专业知识运用到项目中。劳马表示，两家公司的工程团队可以专注于设计自己最熟悉的组件;然后，团可以紧密合作，将他们的技术整合到一个单一的、内聚的系统中，以满足客户的需求。

创建优化的解决方案
丹佛斯电力解决方案的一个业务部门——丹佛斯editron于2021年4月宣布，该公司正与梅里特公司和伊莱克特商用车合作，组建由优力领导的重型商用车电动动力系统集成(EPIC)财团。该财团的目标是开发先进的电力传动系统。每家公司都将把自己的行业专长带到这个项目中。例如，丹佛斯Editron公司将利用其在电机和逆变器开发方面的知识。据Rauma介绍，该公司将研究如何通过对机械、冷却和整个系统包的调整进一步提高功率密度。他表示，丹佛斯Editron将与梅里特和伊莱克特拉合作，开发一种使用更少材料的电子轴包，在成本和性能方面提供更优化的解决方案。确保高水平的效率和绩效也是项目的一个关键方面。为了实现这一目标，Rauma说，用于控制器的电机和电力电子的新技术将是必要的。“我们想引入碳化硅设计，这样我们在这个应用领域就有了最复杂的控制方法。”在开发这些类型的系统时，Rauma说，公司可以对单个组件进行优化，也可以着眼于整体，将所有组件作为一个单元进行优化，以获得最佳的解决方案包。他说:“我们与美驰的目标是成为密切的合作伙伴，这样我们就能以一种竞争对手无法匹敌的方式优化产品包装。”他补充道:“这种合作真正将这些公司的所有关键理解结合在一起，这样我们就可以为终端客户提供最佳解决方案。”劳马说，与梅里特的合作关系非常密切，“因为否则我们就无法达到我们所面临的时间表和技术目标。”这些公司不想创造市场上已经存在的技术，而是要为这个行业带来新的东西。Rauma说:“工程团队或多或少是一个整体，共享信息，并试图找到可行的方法，使下一步的工作成为可能。”

伙伴关系可以扩展应用程序的用途
2021年1月，Proterra宣布与小松合作开发电池电动液压挖掘机，小松预计将在2023-2024年开始商业生产。Proterra将提供其电池技术。这是Proterra的第一个非公路设备项目，该公司最出名的可能是其电动巴士。然而，其Proterra Powered业务提供用于其他oem的车辆和设备的电池组。Proterra Powered副总裁克莱尔·麦康奈尔(Claire McConnell)表示，该公司的电池系统目前应用于从自己的公交、校车到运输车辆的各种场合。麦康奈尔表示:“建筑设备是我们最感兴趣的领域之一，我们认为它对电气化尤其有利。”“这是空气污染的一个主要因素，尤其是在我们的城市和社区，大多数建筑项目都位于那里。”她表示，Proterra在与OEM合作伙伴的合作方式上非常灵活，它能够将自己的全部电气化专业知识带入与小松的合作伙伴关系中。Proterra的电池技术平台也是灵活的，这使得它可以很容易地为各种应用定制。McConnell指出，电池平台提供了高水平的能量密度和坚固的外壳，能够在恶劣的操作环境中使用。她解释说:“包装的灵活性有助于优化Proterra电池在小松电动挖掘机中的位置，实际上取代了对正常平衡挖掘机液压臂运动的需求。”此外，她表示，Proterra为商用车辆设计的电池组是从头开始的，这使得它能够确保它们提供重型应用所需的耐用性和安全性。