Along with the rapid transition and challenges of global ecology, we human beings have to face the issue: how can we live in harmony with the nature? Recently, countries across the world have successively proposed their timetables for carbon neutrality and China also has committed to peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.To realize these goals, the key factors lie in the energy transition in various industries. Electrifying the vehicles and engineering machinery is a quick and effective way of reducing the carbon emissions and promoting the green and sustainable development.
Supported by the national policies, the electrification of vehicles has developed dramatically in China from the initial commercial vehicles to passenger vehicles. Meanwhile, the powertrain system technologies and related products have become maturer and their costs have gradually been reduced, which make the core components like battery, motor and MCU more cost-effective and drives the application of electric powertrain technologies in engineering machinery fields.
IIIinois-based Caterpillar (CAT), established in 1925, is the biggest manufacturer of engineering machinery in the world owing to its accumulated technology and product advantages in the past 98 years. CAT owns many sub-brands worldwide and operates SEM and CAT in China. To meet the requirements of R&D and manufacturing for different types of engineering machinery, CAT built two R&D centers in Qingdao and Wuxi and multiple production bases in Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Tianjin, Shangdong, etc.
At the end of 2020, SEM took the lead in carrying out electrification on wheel loaders and the technical team in Wuxi R&D center put forward the request of customized products. GTAKE was selected because of its industry-leading technologies and high-quality products which not only meet the function requirements of wheel loaders, but also pass the rigorous performance tests.
SEM wheel loader adopts M18 and M04 motor controllers which have intelligent temperature monitor system featuring stable power output and optimal heat dissipation. Equipped with the three-level current leakage protection, whose protection program can monitor the status all the time and automatically intervenes once being triggered, the motor controller can not only better ensure the safety of personnel and machine but also reduce the fault rate. As the wheel loader works in the harsh environment with a lot of dust, mud and sand, the IP67 housing of M18 and M04 facilitates the stable and reliable operation of wheel loaders, thus guaranteeing the progress of the project.
Until now, SEM has purchased MCUs from GTAKE several times and the electrified wheel loaders were delivered to the downstream customers. GTAKE MCUs have been sent to CAT headquarters in the US for in-depth and all-round tests. It’s expected that GTAKE MCUs will be promoted by CAT in its engineering machinery to meet the global market demands.
It is learnt that SEM electric wheel loaders will be massively produced in 2023 to meet the booming market demands and reduce the carbon emissions. GTAKE, as one of the suppliers of CAT, also provides the sophisticated EV/HEV motor controller solutions for its pushdozers and other engineering machinery. To protect the environment and cut down the carbon emissions, GTAKE is concentrated on exploring electrification for more applications and providing more outstanding products for customers worldwide.
A well-known bus manufacturer in China successfully secured an order of one hundred 18-meter hybrid electric buses recently from a Karachi company. GTAKE, as a premium supplier of electric vehicle (EV) motor controller, supplied integrated solutions of EV motor controllers for this batch of buses.
These buses, powered by GTAKE controllers, will be operated in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, which further adds GTAKE’s global presence in the field of EV motor controllers.
Karachi, the economic center of Pakistan, is a metropolitan with a population of 20 million. With such a large population base, the issues of road congestion and citizen travel demand are becoming more and more prominent, and there is an urgent need to establish a comprehensive network for public transportation. Two BRT special lines, the orange line and the green line, came into being in Karachi under this circumstance.
BRT ( Bus Rapid Transit), as a new operating system, uses modern bus technology with intelligent traffic management, enabling the traditional bus transportation system basically to reach the level of service of rail transportation, while its investment and operating costs are lower than rail transit and close to conventional buses. With the previous in-depth survey, the customer decided to adopt hybrid system solution for the buses. Models G03 and G04 motor controllers are utilized in the system, according to the proposal presented by GTAKE. The core components of the two controllers are from leading companies, not only guaranteeing the performance,
but also providing quick dynamic response for the operation. GTAKE persists in providing high-quality products by virtue of optimal software system, as well as automotive grade components to ensure safe operation of the vehicle, and provide a comfortable bus travel experience for passengers.
Based on the terrain characteristics of Karachi, this batch of electric buses select to adopt lightweight solution. The controller developed by GTAKE has the advantage of high space utilization, playing a significant role in reducing the weight of the vehicle.
·G03 external dimensions: 488mm × 244mm × 110mm; weight: 13.5kg
·G04 external dimensions: 600mm × 300mm × 142.8mm; weight: 22kg
The GTAKE controllers are able to meet the climbing demand easily. Under the constant power mode, the output torque can be maintained to be stable and sufficient. Through an optimized torque control tactic, the vehicle can run on slopes smoothly and stop comfortably without sliding backward.
·G03 rated voltage: 540V; rated power: 132 kW; peak power: 198 kW
·G04 rated voltage: 540V; rated power: 200 kW; peak power: 300 kW
Energy saving and environmental protection are regarded as two important indexes for a hybrid electric vehicle. During low-speed or decelerating driving, the controller can automatically recognize the operating status of the vehicle, and shift to the mode of electric power supply for the vehicle in order to reduce exhaust emissions. The G03 controller is equipped with the mechanism of energy recycling. It stores regenerating energy dynamically, and monitors the battery capacity at all times, ensuring the vehicle is always in a balanced status and increase the mileage remarkably.
Bus, as a way of transportation to serve the public, is endowed with properties of frequent-use, and prone to go through complex city roads and weather conditions. The safety of the vehicle system, therefore, must be treated as the paramount criterion. The models G03 and G04 motor controllers in the bus are programmed with all-round protections, such as quick protection on short-circuit, overcurrent, overvoltage, over-temperature, overload, encoder disconnection, etc., also their IP grade meets the standard IP67.
These hybrid electric buses are expected to run in Karachi Orange & Green BRT pass in the near future, a beautiful landscape of the city. It will bring convenient travels to local citizens, and significantly contribute to the environmental protection as well. It is also believed it will provide reproducible experience to more cities in Pakistan to carry out the settlement of BRT.
