Ashwoods Automotive offer hybrid systems for light commercial vehicles.
Fitted to front or rear-wheel drive diesel vans, their systems have been proven to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and fuel costs.
In 2010, while still a relatively small company, Ashwoods lacked the resources to get the most out of their technology at a price that was suitable for mass-market production.
They hoped that through working with the University’s Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems, they could reduce costs while maintaining the system’s carbon dioxide reducing qualities.
A joint project team – funded by an EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Account – took expertise in powertrain systems and carbon dioxide reduction already developed at the University and combined it with Ashwood’s hybrid product and design expertise.
The University helped Ashwoods build a control strategy that could take take their system and get the most out of it in a real-world situation – to offer a very good cost/benefit ratio.
The project team has also developed a driver training device that assesses how ‘aggressive’ a driver is being and gives them feedback they can use to improve their fuel efficiency.
As a result of this project, a hybrid system suitable for the mass-market was established and is now being sold by Ashwoods.
The benefits provided by this new system include:
The newly developed motor has the best cost-to-performance ratio of any competing product.
In addition, the driver training device has demonstrated significant fuel consumption benefits in fleet trials (over 10% in some cases) and is now sold as a stand-alone product – in large volumes, to some of the largest fleets in the country.
A typical hybrid vehicle has two means of propulsion – usually an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, powered by a battery pack.
Every time a vehicle decelerates and stops it wastes energy in the brakes, turning it into heat.
Hybrid systems capture some of that energy, store it in the battery and then re-use it to supply power when accelerating the next time, reducing the amount of fuel the vehicle consumes.
Enhancing the performance of advanced battery technologies is pivotal in the development of high-functioning electric vehicles. In this case study, we explore how a collaboration between Rockfort Engineering, a UK based design consultancy specialising in EV powertrain integration and technologies, and IAAPS leveraged state-of-the-art testing facilities and expertise to push the boundaries of battery technology.
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