Ecovolta electrifies special crawler transporter
Swiss Ecovolta has electrified a transporter from Aebi Schmidt, a specialist for the maintenance of green spaces in challenging terrain such as ski slopes. The eVT 450 Vario transporter currently operates at 1,300 metres in the car-free alpine village of Stoos.
The converted model has an output of 80 kW, all-wheel drive and a payload of up to five tons. Twelve lithium-ion battery packs by Ecovolta combine to 120 kWh capacity. The evoTractionBattery is a 48V type with 840 cells each. The partners do not specify charging but say it takes four hours to bring the battery back to 80 per cent.
For propulsion, the eVT 450 Vario has a four-wheel drive vehicle with a step-free power-split hydrostatic-mechanical transmission and can be switched from tires to a crawler track as needed. The maximum speed is 45 kph (with tires) or 25 kph (with crawler track). The vehicle can also be fitted with a flatbed or a closed body depending on the load.
Tobias Weissenrieder, Head of Technical Unit (R&D and Product Management) at Aebi Schmidt says it took “just five months to go from the idea to implementation,” and adds that “we learned a few things that we will be able to use again in future projects.” An impression Pirmin Reichmuth of Ecovolta confirms when pointing to more products to come from the new partnership.
For Ecovolta, the innovation is its patented battery design that they say allows easy customisation through standardisation. The evoTractionBattery is certified, and exhibits harmonised capacity levels and electronics as well as dimensions. Available voltages range from 24 to 96 V and capacities from 2.5 to 15 kWh. Up to 16 batteries can be connected in series as needed, or up to 32 strings in parallel, allowing battery voltages of between 24 and 829 V and total capacities of up to around 7,600 kWh.
Ecovolta is a subsidiary of Swiss ecocoach, an automation specialist that is currently setting up a battery production facility in Switzerland.
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