Impact Clean Power Technology S.A. will be the supplier of battery systems for leading bus manufacturer Alexander Denis in the UK.
The drive unit will be provided by Impact’s long-standing partner Voith Group . The first buses with these batteries will be on the market in 2023.
Bartek Kras, CEO of Impact, said:The collaboration with Alexander Denis is another milestone in the development of Impact. In response to the very high expectations of this manufacturer, we developed a proprietary battery pack for him containing the latest cell technologies.
Our battery has been designed in such a way that it can be freely modified over time, both at the level of the entire pack and at the level of the module and cell. In the fast-growing market for battery technology, we provide users with the possibility of modification during the entire lifetime of the vehicles.
Impact’s battery systems will be used in electric and hydrogen buses. Initially, these will include the new generation Enviro400EV and Enviro100EV electric buses. They will use high-strength prismatic nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells, which are less susceptible to the negative effects of operating conditions such as low temperatures.
This technology also ensures many years of service life without any loss of initial performance. To ensure the highest level of safety, the batteries are not bolted directly to the vehicle floor. Thanks to their mechanical isolation, they are protected from twisting and damage caused by stones and other objects that may be found on the road.
The Enviro400EV double-decker bus will have 472 kWh batteries as standard, with a 354 kWh option. In the Enviro100EV midibus, the batteries have a capacity of 236 kWh or 354 kWh. Both vehicles can be used for both urban traffic and inter-city transport.
The Enviro400EV can take 98 passengers and has a range of 260 miles on a single charge. The Enviro100EV, on the other hand, takes between 25 and 45 passengers depending on configuration and can cover 285 miles.
The next-generation drive system for the Enviro400EV, Enviro100EV and a version of the Enviro500EV, designed specifically for Hong Kong, was supplied by our long-standing business partner Voith. The Enviro400EV uses the Voith Electrical Drive System heavy-duty variant (VEDS HD), giving the double-decker vehicles a peak power output of 410 kW. This provides excellent on-road performance, including dynamic hill climbing capability. The Midibus Enviro100EV uses the medium-duty version (VEDS MD), designed for smaller vehicles.
Impact’s solution was also chosen for the Enviro400FCEV hydrogen bus. Refuelling this double-decker vehicle with hydrogen takes just five minutes via filler caps on both sides of the vehicle. The NPROXX 350 bar composite pressure tanks securely mounted at the rear of the vehicle hold up to 29.4 kg of hydrogen.
The Impact battery with a capacity of 30 kWh and very high power is mounted between the fuel cell module and the engine. Using cell electrochemistry – based on titanium oxides, the battery system is perfect for frequent and fast charging and discharging.
The vehicle carries up to 88 passengers.
All models are already on the road and were officially showcased at the Euro Bus Expo in Birmingham, which ended on 3 November. The first buses have already been contracted and will be delivered in 2023.
This article was originally published by Impact Clean Power Technology.
