FPT Industrial shows powertrains of the future

FPT Industrial presented a Multi-power, Modular, Multi-application and Mindful 4.0 Power Source Concept at its Tech Day 2018 event held in Turin, Italy. Named Cursor X, “it represents a symbol of how FPT Industrial conceives innovation and reflects our product strategy vision,” says FPT.

The Cursor X Concept “would adapt to provide the most suitable solution for the customer’s business and mission, whether based on Natural Gas internal combustion, Hydrogen Fuel Cell electric generation, or on battery-stored energy.

This range allows combinations from pure electric to parallel and serial hybrid. Energy transfer to the wheels would change accordingly, with the option of a mechanical transmission to be coupled with electric drivelines.

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The Cursor X will deliver power according to specific missions and customers’ needs. Photos: Fiat Powertrain Technologies

Modular

The Power Source Concept would be the same size as an internal combustion engine, with a modular architecture that allows easy assembly, vehicle integration, servicing and full scalability. The modularity would allow the solution to be implemented with all FPT Industrial engine families in a wide range of power nodes. It could also be supplied as an all-inclusive package or in a knock down configuration.

Multi-application

Thanks to its wide range of options, the Cursor X is designed to supply energy for traction, auxiliary systems, implements and PTOs to any kind of industrial vehicle or machine, from delivery vans to buses, from small dozers to crawler excavators, from specialty tractors to combines.

The solution could also be offered as a pre-validated standard package for low-volume products that require electrification.

Self-learning capability

The Power Source Concept has been designed to have self-learning capability and to provide a significant amount of information for further hardware and software design developments. It could be equipped with processors and sensors that recognize anomalies, analyze wear and tear and predict maintenance needs.

It could also be connected for continuous communication with the external environment, sending valuable operational data to stakeholders. Overall, the Cursor X is intended to be aware of its status, capable of anticipating future trends through the exploration of Artificial Intelligence and enabled to interact with the Control Room.

Up to 30% less CO2 emissions

The Cursor X will deliver power according to specific missions and customers’ needs. The Natural Gas configuration, with an electric mode option, would be ideal for metropolitan and regional passenger transport, reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 30%. The battery electric configuration is ideal for urban delivery, with an estimated autonomy of 200 km. Finally, Hydrogen Fuel Cells could become the first full electric technology suitable for long-range, heavy-duty missions, with an estimated autonomy of 800 km.

Electric propulsion and electric assist

At Tech Day 2018, FPT Industrial presented highlights of its electric strategy, which foresees a customized solution for every specific mission and is divided in 2 groups: electric propulsion and electric assist.

Electric propulsion

FPT Industrial presented two solutions that consider electric power playing a direct role in vehicle propulsion – the E-Axle and the Transfer Box.

The E-Axle is a compact and flexible solution that transfers power and torque to the wheels through the gear unit, resulting in a modular concept which can be easily adapted to various vehicle layouts and weight capabilities. It can deliver power of up to 250 kW and 98% efficiency in the main working conditions.

The main benefit of the E-Axle is that is easily adaptable to different customers’ needs. It can support 3 vehicle layouts – front, rear and all-wheel drive – with different suspension systems – independent or rigid – simply by changing external shape, without impacting the core components.

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The E-Axle is a compact and flexible solution that transfers power and torque to the wheels through the gear unit, resulting in a modular concept which can be easily adapted to various vehicle layouts and weight capabilities.

The solution can also be used in different vehicle categories. Alongside urban mission light and medium commercial vehicles, it could also be developed for compact vehicles for agriculture and construction equipment. Finally, thanks to the compact design, the E-Axle can even be installed in vehicles with very tight layouts.

Transfer Box

The Transfer Box is a different solution that adds an electric power unit to the original engine, enabling the management of all propulsion modes – electric, hybrid and thermic. It is installable on existing vehicles, scalable for different vehicle modes, with a very low impact on them. It delivers 98% efficiency and a torque at wheel of 8,000 Nm.

The Transfer Box is, according to FPT, the ideal solution for vehicles with different missions and functional requirements, such as intercity missions with the need for an electric ‘last mile’; for long-haul full hybrid applications; and for mixed usage construction equipment, in urban and extra-urban building sites.

While the E-Axle could be applicable for OEMs that are looking for a sustainable compact solution with great performance, the Transfer Box has the application scalability, range of power and energy density and durability as its main benefits.

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The Transfer Box is, according to FPT, the ideal solution for vehicles with different missions and functional requirements.

Electric Assist

The second group of FPT Industrial’s electric strategy focuses on the support of the thermal combustion engine in all its operational modes, with the option of a mild hybrid powertrain architecture.

The thermal engine has 2 main extra components, the E-Flywheel and the E-Turbocharger, which recover energy that can be reused. Compared to a conventional Diesel engine, these components guarantee sustainability, performance, efficiency and fuel saving.

“In fact, FPT Industrial’s mild hybrid solution can reduce fuel consumption by up to 8%, improve transient response by up to 50%, increase low speed torque, optimize the engine strategy and provide energy availability for auxiliaries and implements,” says FPT.