US lithium-ion battery manufacturer EnerDel is to regroup its business strategies and sell battery packs for niche markets, starting with transit buses.
The Indiana-based company will initially start selling replacement battery packs to hybrid transit bus company Allison Transmission.
Energy storage company GKN Hybrid Power (GKN) and bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) are to collaborate on the integration of flywheels in hybrid buses.
Initially, ADL will fit 250 flywheels from GKN in the company’s hybrid bus fleet. The partnership of the two UK-based firms is also aimed to enter international markets together.
The Gyrodrive electric flywheel hybrid system uses a magnetically loaded high-speed carbon-fibre flywheel to store the energy generated by a bus as it slows down to stop and then uses the stored energy to power a GKN EVO electric motor.
The Gyrodrive system is designed to last for the life of the bus eliminating the need for battery changes while offering lower whole-life costs than other hybrid alternatives, according to GKN.
ADL will introduce the low emission technology to bus fleets in London and Oxford, but anticipates rapid deployment across the UK in the next few years.
“This alliance with GKN introduces a new dynamic to the market place, courtesy of a lower cost solution that provides significant fuel and greenhouse gas reductions, coupled with reliability and durability,” said Colin Robertson, CEO of ADL.
Earlier this year, GKN aquired Williams Hybrid Power from Williams Grand Prix Engineering and formed GKN Hybrid Power.
UK transport company Wrightbus has installed Lancashire-based Torotrak’s Flybrid flywheel kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) in a bus prototype.
KERS captures and stores energy that is otherwise lost during vehicle deceleration events. When the vehicle slows down, kinetic energy is recovered and stored by accelerating a flywheel. By gathering speed, energy is released from the flywheel back into the driveline.
Battery and charging technology development company Highpower International, based in Shenzhen, China, has secured a deal to supply large format lithium-ion batteries to Huizhou Yipeng Energy Technology for use in buses in China.
In a deal worth up to $5m for the 2014 financial year, Highpower will supply 16 and 20 Ah lithium-nickel cobalt manganese batteries to Huizhou Yipen for use in hybrid and plug-in hybrid buses. Huizhou Yipen will integrate the batteries with BMSs into the buses for multiple Chinese bus manufacturers.
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