"LiVe": RWTH and ISUZU Present E-Truck Prototype

Two RWTH Aachen University chairs, together with the Japanese vehicle manufacturer ISUZU, have completed a modular 18-ton electric truck. The partners have thus already succeeded in producing a second, larger pilot vehicle for e-mobile freight transport as part of the "LiVe" project, whose powertrain can be designed individually and cost-effectively depending on the area of application. The potential range of the battery-electric vehicle is 170 kilometers.

 

"Our consortium is working on a modular system that makes the development and production of electrically powered trucks more economical and at the same time offers individually selectable variants for the powertrains," explains professor Achim Kampker, head of the RWTH chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM). The project, which is being run on the scientific side together with the chair of Production Engineering at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University, is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment with almost 8.5 million euros. "LiVe" stands for "Life cycle cost reduction in electric distribution transport through individually adaptable powertrains".

Battery From The eLab, Vehicle From The Ramp-up Factory

The 18-ton truck has a specially developed battery system and high-voltage on-board power supply consisting of three packs and allows efficient use of installation space by integrating a drive motor close to the wheel in the configuration with a short cardan shaft. Battery construction for the truck took place in the RWTH's Electromobility Laboratory (eLab), while the pilot vehicle itself was created at the ramp-up factory at the Production Technology cluster. Both of the university's facilities can be flexibly rented by outsiders to bring individual components or entire vehicles to series production under near-series conditions.

The "LiVe 2" truck is already being further developed. Further variants of the commercial vehicle with range extenders are to be developed in the near future. Fuel cells or overhead contact line current collectors are also to be used to increase the range.

Further information is available here.