| Volvo electric C30 employs BRUSA drivetrain |
Volvo just introduced their all-electric C30, a fully featured 4-seater battery electric vehicle. It is based on the well known C30 production car and makes no compromises regarding safety or any other benefit that you would expect from any other Volvo car. With top speed over 130km/h, range about 150km and 0 to 100km/h in 10.5s it provides a quite decent driving experience. This is achieved by a 82kW hybrid synchronous motor and 24kWh Li-Ion battery.
Volvo plans to build and introduce a test fleet of at least 50 cars in 2010 already, which is plausible since the first prototype was already amazingly mature. Even (usually skeptical) motoring journalists that were allowed to drive the electric C30 mule were surprised and impressed by the series-like look-and-feel of the car.
Volvo has chosen a BRUSA drivetrain for the electric C30 due to the mature, packageable components that are specifically developed to suit modern electric cars. BRUSAs vast experience with electric drivetrains proved a big plus in the project.
We congratulate Volvo to the extraordinarily well done job on the electric C30, and eagerly await the test fleet to hit the road!
(December 2009)
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| Electric RaceAbout challenges X-Prize |
The Electric Raceabout (dubbed ERA) is a beautiful 2-seater sportscar with thrilling specs: Range > 300 km, top speed > 200 km/h, acceleration 0...100 km/h in less than 5 seconds. And what's more: It is battery electric and really energy efficient.
Built by the RaceAbout Association, a team formed in 2001 at the Metropolia University in Helsinki / Finland, it is based on long and thorough experience in building prototype cars.
The ERA team hopes to win the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, a race for energy efficient yet marketable, affordable and desirable vehicles held in 2010. And we think that with this car, odds are good for the ERA team.
BRUSA supports the ERA project with best-in-class power electronics like DCDC converters and battery chargers. We wish the ERA team all the best and a successful race with their promising car!
(November 2009)
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| Students win Lista prize with E-Spyder |
In Dornbirn(A), the Intertech fair was held in May. One of the opening highlights was the award ceremony for the Lista/Tebo innovation and implementation prizes.
This year, the first prize for innovation sponsored by Lista was awarded to 4 students of the NTB Buchs, for designing the electric drivetrain of the E-Spyder, an all-electric performance car, in collaboration with BRUSA Elektronik AG. Namely the battery, the single stage reduction gearset and the overall integration were done by the students, who put a huge effort in getting the car done and running. We congratulate to this extraordinary and absolutely deserved success!
While the fair was held, the E-Spyder proved at the same time in Norway its roadworthiness: It participated at the Viking Rally from Oslo to Stavanger, a rally for electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicle. The Spyder performed brilliantly on the 550km rally plus several special stages like slalom and performance tests. It gained a lot of attention due to its classic body, but equally - if not more - due to its extraordinary driving dynamics that were impressively demonstrated on race track and performance tests.
(June 2009)
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| Electric family car evMe by Energetique |
Australian company Energetique launches their EV conversion called "evMe" based on the new Mazda2 platform. Conversion does not compromise passenger or luggage room, thus it's a fully viable 5 seater family car.
The specs are quite promising: Acceleration from 0 to 100km/h takes less than 10s, maximum range is about 250km (depending on driving style and route) and theoretical maximum speed would be about 180km/h. In order to maximize range, the speed is limited to 130km/h though.
A Lithium Ion battery of high energy density, paired with a BRUSA hybrid synchronous motor, controller and fixed ratio gearset ensures crisp performance. Needless to say, though nominal power is similar to the original ICE version, it clearly outperforms the original car due to the fact that this special breed of electric motor provides constant power over a wide rpm range, and gear switching is not necessary.
The evMe will sell for moderate 70'000 AUD (~ 45'000 USD), interest in the car is said to be high so the first pilot series of 100 units will probably be sold soon.
(January 2009)
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| Sports cabriolet LAMPO powered by BRUSA |
Protoscar of Switzerland announced its LAMPO sportscar to be unveiled at Geneva Motorshow on March 2nd 2009. It's a fully featured, full size sports cabriolet that boasts a 268hp / 440Nm electric drive by BRUSA. The drive consists of a front and a rear electric motor HSM1-6.17.12 with DMC524 inverter and Transaxle gearset, to be fed by a best-in-class LiPo battery pack.
Despite being a high performance 4WD sportscar with thrilling acceleration and driving dynamics, the LAMPO is expected to consume very little energy, due to its very high efficiency and regenerative braking. The 35kWh battery pack will allow for more than 200km usable range, thus energy consumption per km is more than 3 times better than with a comparable diesel engine.
In order to really make the LAMPO a zero-emission vehicle, its electric "fuel" is generated by a remote 16kWp solar plant, producing enough energy to cover more than 50'000km per year. The main goal of this showcar is to demonstrate that a highly desirable battery electric vehicle which is fully "green" is absolutely doable, thereby convincing passive or even skeptic decision makers that this is in fact the most suitable short term solution.
(December 2008)
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| Forward Looking Hybrid by IKA |
The Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge (IKA) of the University Aachen recently presented a "forward looking vehicle": A parallel full hybrid that does not only adapt to the driver requests, but also to the static information of the trip (speed profile, altitude profile). This way it is possible e.g. to empty the battery before longer downward slopes, such that the complete regenerated brake energy can be stored in the battery. Or the acceleration and deceleration can be controlled in such a way that the drivetrain always works with optimum efficiency.
The vehicle was built from a conventional combustion engine vehicle by coupling a BRUSA electric drive to the automated switching gearbox. The complete drive system is now controlled by the adaptive controller which can also take over the complete control of the longitudinal dynamics. By means of the distance controlled cruise control and the superimposed optimization function the vehicle achieves the required speed automatically, accelerates and decelerates optimally.
The vehicle can drive purely electric for a few kilometres. Compared to the original vehicle, not only the acceleration has been improved significantly, but also the fuel consumption in urban areas has been lowered by 15-25%. This is remarkable, given the prototype character of the vehicle, and points to considerable potential for future developments.
(November 2008)
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| Students' Race Car wins - with BRUSA drivetrain |
The hybrid race car of the team ETH Zurich / University Lucerne won the Formula Hybrid race in Orbassano (I) straightaway. The drivetrain techology doesn't exactly look spectacular at a first glance: A modified 250cc petrol engine by Swissauto (now intake-manifold fuel injection) combined with an electric wide range drive by BRUSA accelerates the 400kg vehicle from 0 to 100km/h (62mph) in 3.7s - a value which is only achieved by very few, very expensive super sportscars. The old record in this class was thereby improved by 0.5 seconds!
As a fully functional parallel hybrid, this vehicle has several impressive properties besides the marvellous acceleration capability: Fuel consumption is about 40% lower than with "conventional" drivetrains, brake energy can be regenerated and stored in the battery, and with respect to the battery capacity, fully electric operation with crisp performance is possible as well (which is not the case with "usual" hybrids, that are good for short and slow fully electric operation only).
We congratulate the successful team, that turned competence in mechanics, electronics, measurement and control technology into a really impressive vehicle, and wish them lots of success for the coming races!
(October 2008)
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| Aux Voltage DCDC Converter for Commercial Vehicles |
The BSC6xx family of power DCDC converters has just grown by another member: The BSC614-24V is designed to fully replace the alternator of a battery, hybrid or fuel cell commercial vehicle. It bears the same compact size, light weight and IP protection as its relatives from the 12V class.
With the high power capability of max. 3.5kW and the extraordinarily high efficiency of 96% (typical) it is as powerful yet much more efficient than a conventional alternator.
The bidirectional operation also allows to start up fuel cells, or even charge an exhausted high voltage battery from the onboard 24V system. This is a considerable advantage, if a hybrid vehicle needs to be jump started. Just wire up the 24V systems of both vehicles as usual and jump start, no need for special skills or special equipment.
(September 2008)
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| BRUSA charges up Smith Electric Vehicles |
Smith Electric Vehicles of UK, the world’s leading manufacturer of road-going commercial electric vehicles, produces zero emission vans and trucks with top speeds of up to 70mph and a range of 100 miles. Smith recently introduced a cutting edge Lithium-Ion Iron Phosphate battery into its range, in packs from 20 kWh to 120kWh, depending on the size of the vehicle. The advanced technology required a new battery charger and Smith chose BRUSA Elektronik AG as its preferred partner for its Edison vehicle platform.
BRUSA is ramping up production of NLG5 chargers during the remainder of 2008, with a view to reaching output of more than 2,000 units for Smith in 2009. This is a major step for us towards mass production of a key product line. Working closely with the world’s leading commercial electric vehicle company will support our strategy of continuous growth. Examination of further opportunities to grow business with Smith is underway.
Doug MacAndrew, Technical Director for Smith Electric Vehicles, said: “To compete in the Commercial Vehicle market, our vehicles must exhibit the same level of reliability and quality as the vehicles we are replacing. BRUSA’s solution has this key attribute, while also proving flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of vehicles from light vans to medium duty trucks.”
(July 2008)
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| 24h race Nurburgring: BRUSA drive passes endurance test |
Former Formula 1 champion Heinz Harald Frentzen brought up a very special premiere at the Nurburgring: His modified Gumpert Apollo is the first hybrid race car to challenge high performance gasoline cars in a 24h race. Besides a conventional combustion engine of about 400kW, which drives the rear axle via 6-speed gear box, it bears a 100kW BRUSA electric drive consisting of a DMC524 motor controller and an HSM6.17.12 wide range motor on the front axle.
While the combustion engine's gearbox unfortunately couldn't bear the enormous continuous load, the electric drive worked flawlessly and constantly from the beginning, thereby allowing to regenerate energy during braking, and boosting acceleration afterwards.
The car's drivers all pointed out that the hybrid drive worked astonishingly well, so despite the relatively high weight of the car, excellent lap times were achieved. This car, which took a lot of pioneering spirit to build, clearly proves that also motorsports may benefit substantially from hybrid drivetrains.
(May 2008)
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| Solar Success |
The SolarWorld No.1 vehicle of the Bochum University finished the World Solar Challenge 2007 - with solar energy 3000 km across Australia - in 4th place, an excellent result. Moreover, SolarWorld No.1 won the Design Award for innovative design, as they managed to integrate aerodynamics, usability and esthetics in an optimal way.
Congratulations to the University Bochum Team for this extraordinary attainment!
On board of the car there was a small but important device which BRUSA provided as a sponsor: The maximum power tracker with its automatic voltage control ensures that the photovoltaic cells always deliver maximum power output under all irradiation conditions. This is important, since the winner's car reached an average speed of more than 90 km/h (55 mph)!
(November 2007)
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| Next generation 3.5kW HV-LV DC/DC converters available |
BRUSA's recently developed 6th generation BSC623-12V and BSC624-12V bidirectional DC/DC converters are now in full production. Such converters are used to power the 12V auxiliary loads like headlights or windscreen wipers from the high voltage system of a fuel cell or hybrid electric vehicle, thereby avoiding the use of inefficient and thus energy wasting alternators. But they can also transfer power from the 12V system to the high voltage side, which opens them up a vast range of possible applications.
Covering a range of 170...450VDC on the high voltage side and 8...16VDC on the low voltage side, continuos power of 2.8kW and peak power of 3.5kW is available. Most notable are the improvements in efficiency (94% compared to 92% of the BSC5) and EMC. Weight, volume and power density were all improved by approximately 10%, though robustness, safety measures and volume production suitability were improved significantly at the same time.
(August 2007)
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| Magna shows hybrid vehicle with BRUSA component |
During the all wheel drive congress in Graz/Austria from 19.-20.April 2007, Magna presented a hybrid vehicle based on the Mercedes ML 350. A so called E-4WD module distributes the traction power to both axles, automatically adapted to the requirements. The Li-Ion battery contains about 3kWh of electric energy, thus pure electric driving for several kilometres is feasible. The "HySUV" called demonstrator vehicle, which was built in collaboration with SiemensVDO and Tyco, provides improved driving performance as well as reduced fuel consumption of about 15% compared to the base vehicle.
In order to reduce fuel consumption, it is also very important that the power for electric auxiliary loads is generated with good efficiency. Conventional alternators work very inefficiently, thus the 12V auxiliary power is generated directly from the high voltage in this car, by means of a bidirectional 3kW DCDC converter BRUSA BSC5. The further improved, even more compact successor BSC624-12V with even higher performance, is entering volume production currently.
(May 2007)
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| BRUSA Elektronik AG grows further |
According to the fast growing market for electrically propelled vehicles, demand for components, systems and engineering services has sharply increased. Our turnover exceeded 3 million EUR p.a. for the first time last year, and orders already placed or in negotiation secure high turnover and workload for the running year. In order to keep up with rising demand, we hired additional engineers and technicians to sustain growing business.
While there is still ample space for more development staff, our production facilities definitely became too small to accommodate the production volumes of current products, not to mention the products we plan to make in the near future. With the new 600 square meters production hall that's built this year within a renovated part of the building, our production space will virtually double. This allows us to easily accommodate the required production lines for recent and new products.
(April 2007)
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| 90kW traction drive available |
After two years of intensive research and development, the compact high power traction drive is finally in production. The combination of a 50kg hybrid synchronous motor HSM6.17.12 with a 10kg light DMC524 inverter delivers a whopping 90kW of mechanic power to the wheels. But the best thing is: this power is available over a very wide rpm range, so there's no need for gear shifting. Whether you drive 50km/h or 200km/h, full power is always available.
(March 2007)
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| Prices for BRUSA chargers reduced by more than 20% |
In order to further improve the price-performance ratio of their chargers, BRUSA Elektronik AG has significantly reduced prices for their mainstream models NLG511SX and NLG513SX. Thanks to the ever increasing market demand and concentration on few types, it is possible to achieve higher volumes and lower cost, without any drawback on quality or performance.
Moreover the NLG503 is introduced, a charger which covers a wide output range at a charging power of 1.6kW. Suited especially for the impressively developing market of plug-in hybrid vehicles, it offers the same flexibility and ruggedness as the 3.3kW units at a very competitive price.
(January 2006)
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| Plug-In Hybrids take off - charged by BRUSA |
The Plug-In Hybrids mark a small but important revolution in vehicle propulsion: By using a bigger battery than conventional hybrids do, it is possible to drive longer distances in purely electric mode. The battery is recharged from the mains outlet at night; combined with the generally higher efficiency of hybrids, this leads to a drastic cut down on fuel consumption, costs and environmental impact.
Daimler-Chrysler takes a leading role by presenting their Plug-In Hybrid Sprinter Van.
A different approach is taken by companies like Amberjac-Projects. They offer retrofit kits for conventional hybrids like the Toyota Prius (see e.g. PriusPlus).
Although different, both approaches have at least two things in common: they immediately bring vehicles on the road that consume substantially less fuel than others - and they both rely on the powerful yet compact NLG5 chargers from BRUSA to recharge their battery.
(June 2005)
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| BRUSA Elektronik AG delivers components for GM's newest fuel cell vehicle Sequel |
At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, General Motors presented its newest concept car Sequel. This car contains, among other innovative features, a fuel cell powered electric drive system. With hydrogen as fuel, the only tailpipe emission is water. The drive system is powerful yet compact, designed to fit into a 280mm thick skateboard chassis. Performance, range, driving characteristics and safety are pretty much comparable to a production vehicle, which is regarded to be the key to customer acceptance. Combined with efforts to lower production costs, this shall eventually lead to broad deployment of fuel cell vehicles.
To make all this possible, several specialist companies contributed their share to the Sequel project - among them is BRUSA Elektronik AG, who supplied the power distribution and controls unit. Due to its experience in engineering powerful, efficient and very compact power electronics, BRUSA Elektronik AG successfully managed the challenge to develop and build this highly specific unit to meet all requirements, although the project's time schedule was quite demanding.
(Jan. 2005)
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