British startup Tevva Motors was one of the companies that took advantage of the exposure afforded transportation companies at the recent Freight in the City 2017 event in London. The company introduced its greenest truck ever, Trucking TV reports.
Tevva Motors’ Richard Lidstone-Scott spoke to Trucking TV to explain the technology behind its electric-powered hybrid truck. “It isn’t like a diesel truck,” he stated, emphasizing how it doesn’t rely on decades-old manufacturing procedures before saying that “an operator has to take some risks.”
“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to deal-risk that adoption by having the range extender, so it doesn’t run out [and the driver isn’t] worried about running out of electricity,” Lidstone-Scott said. “[And] having the lease option so he doesn’t have to pay the capex upfront.”
The driver, for example also “doesn’t have to worry about how he maintains four hundred volt electrics. All he needs to do is charge overnight and put these [batteries in] and drive it. With the lease option, fleet operators get the full REM package so they don’t have to be afraid,” he added.
The vehicle features 74 kwh batteries found on each side of the chassis, and is powered by a single 120 kw electric motor “capable of producing 1800 Nm (1325 lbs.-ft.) from zero rpm” according to Tevva’s website.
As Tevva positions itself as a fleet management solutions provider, it has also prepared for the worst-case scenario for any of the rented trucks from its company. Lidstone-Scott explained the contingency plan in place that “there will always be a replaceable truck available for them.” Durability testing is still ongoing for the prototypes.
Lidstone-Scott based his description of their green truck on his experience from driving the truck himself. “I’ve spent a lot of years driving into London in both geared and automatic seminal half tonnes. This truck by comparison is so easy [to drive]. It’s faster off the line. You don’t have any gear changes. You don’t have an automatic gearbox changing gear. It’s just seamless. You’ve got a regenerative braking on the back wheel. So you lift your foot off the accelerator and it slows itself down. So you’re not jumping on the brake all the time just to maintain your flow in traffic. You’re only using brakes as the final stop part. So overall you feel a lot less weary at the end of days’ driving London.”
Tevva deploys what it calls the Predictive Range Extender Management System (PREMS). This feature predicts the level of energy needed for the day based on GPS route data to maximize the range extender without driver input.
It is emission-free technology that keeps trucking companies like Tevva Motors optimistic about the future. Lidstone-Scott summed it up best. “We do think this is the greenest truck because it genuinely takes diesel trucks off the road. Now we can bring new technology to the fore quicker than a major manufacturer. We have technology in the pipeline that is going to revolutionize the transport industry away from diesel. But this is our first step on the ladder of pushing diesel engine into a corner.”
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