Motiv Power Systems is lining up suppliers of a traction motor and lithium ion battery pack for a $2.7 million California Energy Commission project demonstrating versatile power management capabilities on a San Francisco-area shuttle bus.
The vehicle, a modified Ford E-450 cutaway to be operated by Bauer Worldwide Transportation, will be a battery electric. But the CEC-backed project, says Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz, will show the firm can handle hybrids: that Motiv can manage power from a range of sources, including batteries, ultracapacitors and onboard generators.
San Mateo-based Motiv is bidding to bring an open architecture approach and Silicon Valley expertise to the electric transportation field, “eliminating barriers caused by proprietary systems and incompatible components… Motiv’s vision is to accelerate the adoption of clean technology in the truck and bus market through [a] revolutionary approach to electric vehicle integration and deployment…
“Rather than requiring custom designed powertrain solutions for every new EV design, Motiv has developed a common platform that allows disparate components, developed by multiple vendors, to interoperate.
“Instead of trying to fit the current EV design paradigm into the truck and bus market,” the company says, “Motiv’s technology leverages the natural characteristics of this market, which relies on sourcing standard ‘off the shelf’ components, to promote widespread EV adoption.”
The project with Bauer will start with off-the-shelf lithium batteries, says Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz, with new batteries from fellow Bay Area start-up Seeo to be added later. The additional batteries will add to the modified E-450’s initially targeted 100-mile range, and will show that the Motiv drive design can handle electricity from disparate power sources.
“As easily as we add on another battery module, we can add on a generator,” Castelaz told F&F.
Motiv’s PCS, for power control system, “decouples the powertrain components from each other and from the rest of the vehicle, simplifying vehicle development, reducing integration cost and greatly increasing vehicle flexibility,” Motiv says.
Further, “Data captured and broadcast by the PCS is utilized to effectively manage vehicle operation. State of charge, vehicle status and health, service requirements, and proactive problem diagnosis are all available to the fleet operator in real time.”
CEC says that the advanced bus is expected to have a payback period of three years, and that over the course of eight years, “its total cost of ownership will be 55% of a traditional diesel shuttle.” The agency notes that Bauer has a fleet of 143 vehicles with customers including Google, Cisco, Facebook and Yahoo.
CEC is to put $1,345,552 into the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Transportation project, with a like amount to be invested by Motiv, Bauer, and battery developer Seeo. Seeo has an exclusive license for technology developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The firm says it’s applying a novel solid polymer electrolyte material to make lithium ion batteries offering “dramatic improvements in energy density while also providing best-in-class product lifetime and safety.”
Sam Mateo, Calif.-based Motiv Power Systems is looking for traction motor and lithium ion battery suppliers for a $2.7 million California Energy Commission project involving a modified Ford E-450 cutaway
