Any Chance of Mack Offering a Diesel Electric Hybrid Truck like Edison Motors?

[Mark T]

The Edison idea is like making a truck a tiny locomotive. It works, and makes sense.  I'm not gonna be knocking anyone over to get in line for one any time soon, but ???  Their idea is getting somewhere around 20 miles to a gallon ???  I'm not aware of any a$$hole particulate filter that in reality accomplished that.  Most guys don't stop to think, a loaded truck (@ 40 tons) doesn't require full power to keep it rolling along at highway speed 100% of the time.  Like the boy said..... "if you want guys interested in electirfication in trucks, give'm something that looks like a truck" 

[JoeH]

I'm a fan of Edison Motors, but they're going to lose out to someone who can do it bigger faster.  They are dragging their feet and want to grow very slow.  The industry wont wait for them.  They dont have a patent for the diesel-electric concept.  Someone else will come along and build their own diesel-electric design and put it into high production faster.  

I wouldn't use a Mack e6/e7 for a conversion, it's too big of a motor.  Realistically I'd bet a 12v or 24v 5.9 Cummins would be a gem of an engine to slap in a Mack, though it's a bit loud.  The whole concept is a small efficient motor recharges the batteries while the batteries provide the variable torque needed to handle the differing power demands of the road.  A Mack E7 wouldnt be worth the extra weight when a motor 1,000 lbs lighter could do the job.

Their logging test they just ran maxed out at I think 400 amp draw accelerating while they have access to 750+ amps. A 1.5L Cummins Onan generator puts out about 50 amps of juice. 5.9L is basically 4 of these, so I'd estimate a 5.9L Cummins should put out 200amps of recharge, which should handle a big rig reasonably.  And it would leave me engine clearance in my RD688 to put one of their powered steer axles in, giving me 6x6 drive! 

[JoeH]

I'm a fan of Edison Motors because they're the first logical electric innovation in trucking. 

[fjh]

But as for Mack or Volvo doing it NOPE they had to use a Cummins in the md cause they didn’t want to build a smaller engine!

[JoeH]

The Edison Motors Retrofit opens up some interesting options. Smaller engine/generator combo means you could run PG Adams frame rails on an older Mack. You'd need to do some front end bracket modification to swap in a different brand steer axle suspension.  Hood/cab mounts and you're rolling.

[Geoff Weeks]

1 hour ago, JoeH said:

 

Their logging test they just ran maxed out at I think 400 amp draw accelerating while they have access to 750+ amps. A 1.5L Cummins Onan generator puts out about 50 amps of juice. 5.9L is basically 4 of these, so I'd estimate a 5.9L Cummins should put out 200amps 

 

I saw the video a while back but don't think they are running the low voltages you are talking about the Cummins generator making.

They are likely drawing 400 amps at 400 volt DC or could even be 800 VDC. That is a whole different ball game.  A lot more power.

 The 5.9 has been used in yard goats, but even there speed is limited.

[Mark T]

1 hour ago, JoeH said:

The Edison Motors Retrofit opens up some interesting options. Smaller engine/generator combo means you could run PG Adams frame rails on an older Mack. You'd need to do some front end bracket modification to swap in a different brand steer axle suspension.  Hood/cab mounts and you're rolling.

Not trying to be a smart ass, did you ever read about them ?  That's exactly what they do to older trucks. ( IDK about PG Adams rails ) They rebuild older trucks from the ground up with the diesel electric conversion. From what I understand that way regulations with them are more relaxed for an existing truck.  These dudes have a pretty interesting history, along with some common sense ideas. 

[JoeH]

29 minutes ago, Mark T said:

Not trying to be a smart ass, did you ever read about them ?  That's exactly what they do to older trucks. ( IDK about PG Adams rails ) They rebuild older trucks from the ground up with the diesel electric conversion. From what I understand that way regulations with them are more relaxed for an existing truck.  These dudes have a pretty interesting history, along with some common sense ideas. 

No offense taken, I'm aware they are planning to run a Retrofit option.  Not sure how fast they're getting it up and running. I know on pickups they're trying to work with third party shops to run installs. Hopefully they can scale their business fast enough to get a strong bite into the industry. Hopefully they can get their heavy truck retrofits rolling, but I've heard them say they only want to make a handful of trucks to start out with testing in mining and logging.  It makes sense, but they're going to need to make sure they're prepping to scale their production to start making these beasts. 

[JoeH]

1 hour ago, Geoff Weeks said:

I saw the video a while back but don't think they are running the low voltages you are talking about the Cummins generator making.

They are likely drawing 400 amps at 400 volt DC or could even be 800 VDC. That is a whole different ball game.  A lot more power.

 The 5.9 has been used in yard goats, but even there speed is limited.

Electrical is by far my weakest knowledge base.  My 12v Cummins is rated around 180hp. Could run a 6.7L as well, I think you'd be fine doing dump truck work with either.  I'd bet there's enough "idling" time in that line of work that the generator could pump some juice into the batteries.

They're also moving 145,000 lb loads with Topsy on I believe a 9.0L CAT engine. Albeit downhill loaded, uphill empty. I still think a 5.9 or 6.7 could be up to the task of moving triaxles around.

Edited September 30 by JoeH

[BOBWhite]

If a company wanted to put out a hybrid semi truck they probably would have done something like it already. My guess is they already put so much effort and development into making fully electric trucks that they don't even want to bother with the hybrid system. The only other company that made serious attempts that I know of is Eaton but their system was quite a bit different than Edisons system and its been more then 10 years since they last ran a promotion. 

Here's an example from the 80s made by Briggs And Stratton: