Today’s off-highway vehicles (i.e., agriculture and construction equipment) contribute to 18% of US CO2 emissions. These vehicles are notoriously inefficient, with only 20% of engine shaft energy reaching the vehicle implements. The Severson Group is part of a multi-institution team that has received multiple grants from the United States Department of Energy to rethink this technology. We are developing new, ultra-efficient and highly compact hydraulic systems based around integrated electric motor/pump concepts, the latest power electronic devices, intelligent control, and a new system architecture. In this latest grant, we will demonstrate our technology in an all-electric compact track loader at the University of Minnesota.
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