Perkins has developed a plug and play battery electric power unit designed to help off-highway equipment manufacturers seamlessly transition from a diesel engine to a battery electric powertrain.
The battery electric power unit made its debut at bauma as the power source for a McElroy TracStar 900i pipe fusion machine.
“We’re actively helping customers navigate the shift in power system requirements, with a range of advanced power systems including electric, diesel-electric and alternative fuel compatible engines,” said Jaz Gill, Perkins’ Vice President, Global Sales, Marketing, Service and Parts.
“When it comes to the innovative fully integrated battery electric power unit, it can be ‘dropped in’ to a machine to replace a diesel engine.”
The Perkins power unit has been put to the test in a McElroy TracStar 900i pipe fusion machine as a commercial demonstrator; with the battery electric power unit replacing a 3.6 litre 904 Series (134 hp) diesel engine.
The power unit includes a Perkins battery along with inverters, motors and on-board chargers.
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It’s packaged in a compact drop-in system, which fits within the same chassis space as the 904 Series engine, to support seamless transition from diesel to electric.
“One of the unique selling points for this concept is it has the same mounting face, the same interface in the flywheel housing and the interconnectivity is the same. It fits within the same box, within the same envelope, so it literally is plug and play,” said Luke Bennett, Technical Sales for Advanced Power Systems at Perkins. “It gives the OEM that flexibility to have very minimal changes to their machine design.”
They could have a battery electric machine, and then also the traditional diesel. So, it’s a really great concept.”
To boost the plug-and-play usability, Perkins equipped the power unit with patented software that allows the power unit to mimic a diesel engine.
“The machine actually thinks it has an engine running. It’s getting oil temp readings and it’s getting oil level readings,” said Chris Goggin, Product Marketing Manager at Perkins.
Equipping the TracStar 900i with an electric, emissions-free power unit opens new application opportunities for the OEM.
“They’re seeing huge opportunities within the mining sector, because they can now sell these machines into underground applications with zero emissions at the tail pipe,” Goggin said. “What that does is really help the customer to explore battery electric and electric solutions without having to invest in a whole new team of electrical engineers and integration engineers.”
Development of the battery electric power unit specifically for the pipe fusion machine was completed in about nine months.
“This has been a really fast project. We were able to do that by having already launched our battery technology and already having gone through the validation of the battery technology,” Bennett said.
