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Light-Weight Semi-Monocoque Chassis
The A6.7C Shuttle is designed for superior efficiency, which begins with controlling the weight of the chassis and body. Rather than copying our competitors who typically build their buses on traditional heavy duty frame rail truck chasses, the Shuttle is based on a semi-monocoque design. After locating the front and rear axles, the battery pack is located in a low and secure position just forward of the rear axle and motor assembly. This ground-up approach has yielded a very stylish, light-weight, and high performance shuttle bus. |
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Lithium-ion Battery Pack The A6.7C Shuttle is powered by a state-of-the-art lithium-ion iron phosphate (“LFP”) battery pack of multiple modules housed in a single, below-the-floor, center-mounted, air-cooled pack storing 97 kWh of electrical energy. The LFP technology offers outstanding safety, cycle life, and durability characteristics. The pack’s location gives the shuttle a low center of gravity for a great ride and makes battery swapping simple and quick.
Patented Battery Management Algorithms Submitted to the USPTO:
AEV -6. “Adaptive estimation of battery cell resistance unbiased by polarization voltages.” AEV -8. “System and method for recursively estimating battery cell capacity during charge cycle.” AEV 10. “System and method for estimating available battery pack energy.” AEV -11. “System and method for equalizing a battery pack during a charge cycle.” |
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Charging Equipment
The A6.7C Shuttle has a 20 kW onboard charger taking a standard 3-phase input. In most cases, this will permit the pack to be fully charged in about 3-4 hours. The charger, a compact, high-switching frequency, isolated design, operates under control of the battery management system (“BMS”), which provides safety, protection, and optimum use of the pack.
In addition to the onboard charger, AEV is also offering a Charging Infrastructure System (“CIS”) for intensive operations where quick swapping of battery packs is a useful means to extend daily operating range. The CIS offers a magazine that can charge a number of packs in a very compact space. The entire pack is swapped between the Shuttle and the magazine using a forklift. |
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Motor and Controller
The A6.7C Shuttle is driven by an interior permanent magnet (“IPM”) motor. This type of motor provides both high torque (for quick acceleration and good gradeability) and high efficiency in a compact package. Due to these desirable characteristics, the IPM motor is also becoming the motor of choice for the world’s largest auto manufacturers, replacing the older induction motor technology. The controller is an automotive grade, high power, full bridge, IGBT-based unit controlled by a software package optimized for the IPM motor. |
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