(Aachen) – A truck prototype developed at RWTH Aachen University, combining a battery-electric powertrain with fuel cells, has completed its first test drives at the "Aldenhoven Testing Center" in the Düren district. The vehicle was developed at the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) as part of the "SeLv" research project.
500 kilometers of testing in various environments
“The tests under real conditions have shown that this combination works for heavy-duty trucks,” says PEM head Achim Kampker. The truck covered a total of around 500 kilometers and was tested on the driving dynamics area, the braking track, the oval track and the incline hill.
A modular drive train for electric trucks was developed at the PEM Chair at RWTH Aachen University. © PEM RWTH Aachen
The prototype was presented in October 2022 as a purely battery-electric vehicle. With the help of the now implemented fuel cell system and energy management, the truck will have a range of more than 1.000 kilometers in the future, according to RWTH. The modular drive train enables individual configurations depending on usage requirements. The focus of development is on the industrialization of the production processes for the drive train. The aim is, among other things, “to realize quantity-based cost advantages in production”.
Due to the high energy requirements of heavy trucks, it is important to “exploit the technological advantages of fuel cells – especially the long range and the high possible vehicle masses – in order to achieve locally emission-free long-distance transport,” say the researchers.
The “Heavy-duty trucks for emission-free logistics in heavy-duty transport using an electrification modular system and an economical production system” (SeLv), which is scheduled to last more than four years and will run until the end of 2024, is supported by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport as part of the Mobility and Fuel Strategy (MKS). around 16,9 million euros in funding.
Photos
SeLv electric truck prototype on its first hydrogen test drive. © PEM RWTH Aachen
