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GRA

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
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East side of San Francisco Bay
Via GCC: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/08/20160817-orange.html

. . . Orange EV’s initial T-Series, a complete re-manufacture of existing trucks, has been operating up to 24+ hours per charge at sites from single shift to 24x7 in: railroad inter-modal, LTL freight, manufacturing, retail distribution, waste management and warehouse container handling. . . .
 
What is the purpose of that 50lb-looking vertical post on the left front? Some yard-specific thing? They certainly don't need that much steel to hold the mirror...
 
LeftieBiker said:
What is the purpose of that 50lb-looking vertical post on the left front? Some yard-specific thing? They certainly don't need that much steel to hold the mirror...
It serves as a driver handhold while working on the right-side platform and/or keeps open trailer doors from swinging into the cab, and provides some protection for the hostler from freight falling out, as well as providing a robust mount for the mirror. Normally the hostler just sits in the cab and reaches back through the open rear window to disconnect the gladhands, or steps out onto the rear platform to connect them (or disconnect them if they're sticky).
 
Via GCC:
Kenworth receives $8.6M in grants for low-emission T680 Day Cab drayage truck projects in California; hybrids, CNG hybrid and fuel cell
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/08/20160820-kenworth.html

. . . The first two projects are funded at $1.9 million each by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with Southern California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) as the prime applicant. Kenworth will build two, proof-of-concept T680 Day Cab drayage tractors to transport freight from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to warehouses and railyards along the I-710 corridor in the Los Angeles basin.

The first T680 Day Cab will be a hybrid electric drayage truck producing near-zero-emissions utilizing currently available compressed natural gas (CNG) engine to generate electrical power.

The second T680 Day Cab will feature a hydrogen fuel cell offering true zero-emissions operation. These trucks are expected to be identical, except for their power generation systems. Both trucks will have an all-electric range of 30 miles (48 km), as well as on-board CNG and hydrogen capacity, respectively, of 100 diesel gallons equivalent (dge).

The third project is funded at $4.8 million by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), again with the SCAQMD as the prime applicant. Kenworth will build four hybrid-electric T680 Day Cabs and support the customer field test of the units in Southern California drayage operations. . . .
 
GRA said:
LeftieBiker said:
What is the purpose of that 50lb-looking vertical post on the left front? Some yard-specific thing? They certainly don't need that much steel to hold the mirror...
It serves as a driver handhold while working on the right-side platform and/or keeps open trailer doors from swinging into the cab, and provides some protection for the hostler from freight falling out, as well as providing a robust mount for the mirror. Normally the hostler just sits in the cab and reaches back through the open rear window to disconnect the gladhands, or steps out onto the rear platform to connect them (or disconnect them if they're sticky).

Thanks. I was pretty sure it wasn't just Mirror Mount Overkill...
 
Via GCC:
Orange EV approved for California incentives of up to $120,000 per Class 8 electric truck
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/08/20160824-orangeev.html

Orange EV announced that businesses and organizations with fleets in California can receive a preliminary voucher of $95,000, increasable up to $120,000, toward the purchase of a new T-Series battery-electric Class 8 terminal truck with extended duty battery pack.. . . .

Vouchers can be approved within days, Orange EV said. Participating fleets commit to operating trucks in California for a minimum of three years, after which they may redeploy vehicles as needed. HVIP funds are paid directly to Orange EV thus directly reducing the capital fleets need to purchase T-Series trucks. . . .
 
Via IEVS:
Nikola One Truck Turns To Hydrogen Power For Zero Emission Driving In US
http://insideevs.com/nikola-one-truck-turns-to-hydrogen-fuel-cell-power-for-zero-emission-driving/

. . . The most important recent development is that the CNG range-extender on top of the 320 kWh battery, will now be swapped out in North America for a 800 V hydrogen fuel cell unit. The original CNG unit is now an choice for other markets with not-so-strong hydrogen infrastructures. Perhaps the CNG version will also be a US/Canadian option still if requested.

Nikola Motors also states that some of the hydrogen infrastructure will be also build by the company, of which they would like to install a nationwide network of over 50 stations by 2020.

Hydrogen at these future station will be produced from electrolysis of water using solar electricity (the plan is to have more than 100 MW capacity at each station).

The Nikola One published specs state that the total range for the truck will be over 1,200 miles (1,900+ km), and that its truck will therefore never need to plug-in, although one still could in a pinch. . . .
Well see how much if any of this actually occurs. For an EV startup planning to also build the necessary infrastructure, they picked a good name ;)
 
Via GCC:
Ballard MOU with strategic partner Broad-Ocean targets fuel cell modules for buses and commercial vehicles
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/09/20160901-ballard.html

In July, Broad-Ocean announced a $28.3-million strategic equity investment in Ballard, through which Broad-Ocean acquired a 9.9% ownership position in Ballard, making it the company’s largest shareholder. (Earlier post.)

Key regions contemplated in the MOU include Wuhan (the capital of Hubei Province), Chongqing (or Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province), Shandong Province, and Beijing (the Chinese national capital city). . . .
 
Via GCC:
Ballard providing ten 30 kW fuel cell modules to UpPowerTech; expanding into China’s Guangxi Province
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/09/20160908-ballard.html

Ballard Power Systems has signed a purchase order from Shenzhen UpPower Technology Co., Ltd. (UpPowerTech), a leading fuel cell bus systems integrator in China, for the supply of 10 FCveloCity-MD 30 kW fuel cell power modules to be integrated by UpPowerTech into clean energy buses manufactured by Gaungxi Yuanzheng New Energy Co. Ltd. (Yuanzheng), a Chinese bus manufacturer, for deployment in the City of Nanning in the Province of Guangxi. . . .

Designed for scalability, the FCveloCity module is available in various configurations between 30-200kW. Focused on the heavy-duty transportation market, the primary 85 kW net FCveloCity was released in June 2015 and is currently powering buses in multiple customer trials around the world. . . .

Standard 5 year, 250,000 mile warranty (for transit applications. . . .

Ballard designed the 30kW FCveloCity-MD module for use in battery-dominant hybrid, heavy-duty motive applications. The hydrogen-fueled power module is sized for smaller transit vehicles, and offers a low risk, versatile and easy installation solution for system integrators, with a design based on many years of transit experience. . . .

The 10 FCveloCity-MD 30 kW fuel cell power modules are expected to be delivered in 2016, and the fuel cell buses are expected to be deployed in 2017.
 
Both via GCC:
Commissioning of initial 12 Ballard-powered buses in China’s largest fuel cell bus deployment
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/09/20160930-ballard.html

Ballard Power Systems announced the commissioning and deployment of an initial 12 fuel cell-powered buses in the District of Sanshui, in the City of Foshan, in the Province of Guangdong, China. The buses will be operated by Foshan Sanshui Guohong Public Transit Co. Ltd., on demonstration route #682 from Gaofeng Park Station to Shuidu Industrial Park Station.

The buses are 11 meters in length and feature advanced safety systems, 80-person capacity, anticipated driving range in excess of 300 kilometers (186 miles), expected hydrogen gas consumption of less than 6.5 kilograms per 100 kilometers, zero tailpipe emissions and remote monitoring. Unlike many battery electric bus routes, the transit route in Foshan will not require any catenary wires or on-route recharging.

  • In September 2015 we announced the planned deployment of 300 fuel cell-powered buses in Foshan/Yunfu. Our program consortium has made considerable progress over the past year, including localization of Ballard-designed fuel cell engines, establishment of a fuel cell bus manufacturing facility, local procurement activities, development of systems integration capabilities, national permitting of a fuel cell bus platform, preparations for hydrogen refueling infrastructure and development of our China service team.

    Now the first installment of zero-emission fuel cell buses is hitting the roads in Foshan, with the commissioning of an initial 12 buses in passenger service. This marks the largest deployment of fuel cell buses in China’s history. The Foshan and Yunfu governments are demonstrating strong vision and leadership by solving a growing need for mass urban transit while responsibly addressing local air quality and stimulating local economic development.

    —Randy MacEwen, Ballard’s President & CEO. . . .

UPS places 50 advanced hydraulic hybrids in its fleet in time for holiday rush
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/09/29160930-ups.html

United Parcel Service, Inc., the world’s largest package delivery company and a provider of supply chain management solutions, placed 50 Lightning Hybrids hydraulic hybrid delivery trucks in the Chicago metro area. . . .

The hybrid systems provide additional torque and reduce engine stress on the vehicles, allowing UPS to use less expensive gasoline engines rather than diesel engines, substantially reducing NOx emissions in the process. UPS anticipates an ROI of one to two years on these vehicles.

UPS first trialed the Lightning Hybrids product with a six-month pilot in 2014 that demonstrated 100% hybrid system uptime and impressed the UPS team with excellent efficiency gains, elegance, and drivability, leading to additional trials, including a trial in the UK, that is currently underway. Fuel efficiency gains ranged from 18 to 34 percent during the pilot.

The system from Lightning Hybrids is a patented, parallel hydraulic hybrid system that has no electric batteries. Instead, it applies a hydraulic system to the vehicle driveline to regenerate braking energy. Hydraulic pumps and a lightweight accumulator brake the vehicle, store the braking energy, and then use that stored energy to provide power to the wheels. In doing so fuel is saved and harmful emissions are cut. . . .
 
Via GCC:
Navigant Research forecasts battery-electric to be leading type of electric powertrain for buses through 2026
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10/20161011-navigant.html

In a new report, “Medium and Heavy Duty Buses with Hybrid, Plug-In Hybrid, Battery Electric, and Fuel Cell Powertrains: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts”, Navigant Research forecasts that the battery EV (BEV) will be the leading type of electric powertrain for buses through 2026. According to Navigant Research, the total global market for electric drive buses is expected to grow from about 119,141 buses in 2016 to 181,055 in 2026.

Navigant anticipates that hybrid drive will grow steadily, while fuel cells will begin to enter volume production by the end of 2026. Plug-in hybrid drive is expected to grow for the rest of the current decade and then see sales begin to drop off.

Direct Link to the report: https://www.navigantresearch.com/research/electric-drive-buses
 
Via GCC:
Toyota to start sales of fuel cell buses under the Toyota brand from early 2017
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10/20161021-fcbus.html

. . . After repeated field tests of the hydrogen-powered buses for practical use, the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to utilize two of the Toyota FC Buses as fixed-route buses.

Toyota plans to introduce more than 100 FC buses mainly in the Tokyo area, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In view of this, the FC buses will be sold for the first time in Japan in early 2017, so as to help increase the level of understanding by the general public of the utilization of FC buses as a form of public transportation. . . .

The bus also can function as a high-capacity external power supply system. With a power supply capable of a 9 kW maximum output, and a large capacity of electricity supply at 235 kWh, the FC bus can be used as a power source in the event of disasters, such as at evacuation sites such as in school gymnasiums or for home electric appliance use. . . .
There's a spec sheet.
 
Via GCC:
Flint MTA testing Proterra hydrogen fuel cell bus prototype for one year
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10/20161031-flintmta.html

. . . Part of the study will be to see how the bus tests in a cold environment as it has only been run in warmer climates. . . .

Top speed of the bus is 55 mph. With the on-board batteries and hydrogen fuel cell stack, the bus has a range of 280 miles; the range using the battery only is 30 miles.

The bus will be tested on different routes in the city of Flint. Part of the study includes checking the vehicle’s fuel consumption.
 
GRA said:
Via GCC:
Flint MTA testing Proterra hydrogen fuel cell bus prototype for one year
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/10/20161031-flintmta.html
Another natural-gas-fueled vehicle hits the road, but at signficantly higher cost and damage to the environment. From the press release:
Flint MTA said:
The hydrogen fuel used is produced through steam reforming natural gas.
Interestingly, I do not see any mention of this effort from Proterra. They only mention BEV buses on their website AFAICT. All of their BEV buses offer a top speed of 65 MPH and two of the 40-foot versions offer a longer range than this fuel-cell vehicle. Also, one 35-foot as well as one 40-foot bus offer 251 miles of range.
 
It's an interesting question whether this bus, using NG reformed via SMR, or the BEV buses in Louisville, using 87% coal-generated electricity, are dirtier. Neither makes much sense IMO - an HEV bus would seem to be cleaner. Still, this is primarily a cold-weather test of a single FCEV bus so it's no big deal that they're using H2 from SMR, unlike the Louisville fleet which will be running off coal-fired electricity for over a decade and probably a lot longer than that, as long as Senator "Coal is good for you. Here, eat some!" McConnell is representing them. It would be most useful if Flint ran an FCEV and a BEV bus side by side.
 
Via GCC:
Wrightspeed and the Ratto Group introduce range-extended electric refuse truck; 15 trucks over next 12 months
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/11/20161102-wrightspeed.html

Wrightspeed, the leading manufacturer of range-extended electric vehicle (REV) powertrains for heavy-duty applications, and The Ratto Group, a Santa Rosa, California-based refuse, yard waste and recycling collection and processing company, unveiled the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck. Ratto and Wrightspeed will roll out 15 Route-equipped trucks—retrofits of trucks in Ratto’s fleet—over the next 12 months to meet community needs.

With the support of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, communities in Sonoma and surrounding counties will be serviced by a fleet of clean, quiet trucks from The Ratto Group, powered by Wrightspeed’s range-extended powertrain, The Route. . . .

The Wrightspeed Route is a Range-extended Electric Vehicle (REV) powertrain designed for original or retrofit applications that can be customized to fit a variety of heavy-duty platforms, replacing the engine, the transmission and the differential systems. The Route electric powertrain drives more low-end torque to the wheels than conventional diesel engines, with less fuel, less emissions, and less noise. The on-board microturbine generator, the Fulcrum, is fuel-agnostic.

The Wrightspeed range-extended electric powertrain is optimized for heavy-duty frequent-stop drive cycles. Wrightspeed designed its own motor, motor controller, clutchless transmission, and vehicle dynamics software (the Wrightspeed GTD drive system), as well as the Fulcrum.

The Wrightspeed GTD features a four-speed clutchless gearbox using software controls in place of heavy and complex traditional transmission components, saving on weight while delivering an exceptional range of power and speed. . . .
 
Via ABG:
Nikola One hydrogen-powered semi is tall, different and zero-emission
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/12/01/nikola-one-hydrogen-powered-semi-zero-emisson/

. . . Lower costs: Milton said that the weight of the Nikola One, when compared to a traditional diesel rig, will be about 2,000 pounds lighter. If you take weight out of the cab, you can add it onto the payload, which means you can move more goods, and more goods means more money. Plus, included in the purchase or lease price (and the lease could be $5,000-$7,000 a month, for 72 months, according to the Nikola website), is a million miles of free hydrogen. Drivers will be able to fill up at a to-be-built network of 364 planned Nikola stations that will be scattered across the US and southern Canada. Milton did not describe this next part in any detail, but did say that the vertically integrated Nikola will make the hydrogen, liquefy it, and truck it to the stations. One possible method would be to use solar energy to electrolyze water and get the H2 that way, but we don't know for sure yet. . . .
Big plans. We'll see how much if any of it comes to pass.
 
Via GCC:
London to phase out diesel buses; all new single deckers for central London to be zero emission
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/12/20161213-zeb.html

. . . No more pure diesel double-deck buses will be added to the capital’s fleet from 2018 and all new single-decks for central London will be zero-emission. The Mayor made the announcement along with unveiling the first double-decker hydrogen bus, manufactured by the Wrights Group.

London has committed to procuring roughly 300 zero emission buses by 2020, with 51 battery electric buses recently going into service on the 507/521 route, taking the number of completely electric bus routes to three, with 79 zero emission buses in total in the fleet.

At least 20 new hydrogen buses will be delivered to London as part of a £10-million (US$12.6 million) part-EU funded project supporting hydrogen technology, with TfL providing at least £5 million in funding. . . .

The Mayor made the announcement at the International Zero Emission Bus Conference and Fuel Cell Bus Workshop (IFCBW) at London City Hall, held 30 November and 1 December and hosted by Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). . . .

At the IFCBW event, Jack Kitowski, the Mobile Source Division Chief of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said that recent awards of more than $70 million in Low Carbon Transportation grant funding will go to build 25 fuel cell electric buses and 70 battery electric buses along with supporting infrastructure for 10 transit agencies throughout California.
 
via GCC:
Ballard-powered fuel cell electric buses exceed 10M km of revenue service
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/01/20170104-ballard.html

Today Ballard FCveloCity engines are powering more than 80 buses around the globe: 41 in Europe, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland and the U.K.; 24 in the Cities of Foshan and Yunfu, China; 13 in the US, including the states of California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio; 3 in Brazil; and 1 in India.

Ballard is seeing increased market demand for FCveloCity fuel cell engines of various sizes for use in a number of different vehicle types, including:

  • Ongoing shipments to fulfill additional requirements of partner Guangdong Synergy Hydrogen Power Technology Co., Ltd. for more than 300 buses in Foshan and Yunfu, China (earlier post);

    Fuel cell orders from strategic partner Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. to power 10,000 commercial vehicles that will be deployed in its China vehicle leasing business, thereby creating significant demand pull-through for Ballard technology (earlier post);

    Ballard’s ongoing development programs for 200 kilowatt (kW) engines to power urban light rail vehicles for China’s CRRC Corporation Ltd., the world’s largest train manufacturer (earlier post);

    A recent purchase order from OEM Solaris Bus & Coach for engines to power buses for deployment in Riga, Latvia (earlier post);

    Bidding for more than 100 fuel cell buses under Europe's Horizon 2020 funded program; and

    Bidding on fuel cell bus programs funded by the US Federal Transit Administration (FTA) under the Low and No Emission (LoNo) Vehicle Deployment Program (earlier post). . . .
 
Via GCC:
Plug Power ships first production fuel cell Progen systems for EV range extenders for FedEx Freight
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/02/20170209-plugpower.html

. . . Plug Power is developing this technology through a $3-million grant from the Department of Energy with FedEx. The first deliveries of production ProGen engines will function as range extenders in electric FedEx Freight delivery vans in the greater Los Angeles area, doubling the vehicles’ range.

ProGen shipments for delivery vans in the China market will begin in the second quarter of 2017. . . .
 
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