Torotrak has acquired a 20% stake in flywheel hybrid innovator Flybrid Automotive Ltd (formerly Flybrid Systems LLP) with an option to acquire the remaining shares before the end of the calendar year. The company expects the deal will accelerate the adoption of its technology, which it says will be in fleet trials with bus operators later this year through an agreement with bus constructor Wrightbus.
Flybrid Automotive, a UK company owned by its founders Jon Hilton and Doug Cross, already has a long-term relationship with Torotrak, which uses Flybrid’s proven flywheel module in its Mechanical Kinetic Energy Recovery System (M-KERS). The system is claimed to recover up to 70% of braking energy for around a third the cost of battery electric hybrids. Flybrid has evaluation or development programmes with a wide range of vehicle manufacturers worldwide.
In an study commissioned by Torotrak, Ricardo Strategic Consulting concluded that pure mechanical flywheel hybrids promise similar fuel economy and CO2 benefits to electric hybrids but at around one third the cost. Looking in more detail at the issues associated with conventional electric hybrid technologies, Ricardo added; ‘The purely mechanical flywheel system also eliminates the cost and price instability of exotic metals, the end-of-life costs of batteries, the need to train dealers and bodyshops to work safely with high voltages and several other significant penalties of traditional high-voltage solutions.’ The report forecasts that in the heavy duty commercial vehicle market, pure mechanical flywheel hybrids ‘appear to be one of the most cost-effective powertrain technologies for reducing CO2.’
This view is supported by E4tech, who conclude that the Flybrid technology is well suited to the bus market, medium volume market entry in the commercial vehicle market and to some sectors of passenger cars, saying that it can match or improve upon electric hybrid fuel economy improvements of at least 15 per cent. Their view is that the considerably reduced costs would enable it to become an established low carbon technology ahead of likely fuel cell mass-market adoption.
In passenger car applications, pure mechanical flywheel hybrid technology could reduce emissions of CO2 by up to 30 g/km at a cost of around £20 per gram, says Ricardo. This compares favourably with their estimate of £20 – £45 per gram for enhanced Internal Combustion Engine technologies and up to £90 per gram for electric hybrids.
Torotrak expects the first application of pure-mechanical flywheel hybrid technology will be in the urban commercial vehicle market, where benefits are strongest and volumes can be managed through existing relationships. There are also substantial opportunities with other fleets that operate a stop-start drive cycle such as urban delivery vehicles and refuse vehicles.
In the passenger car sector, the Ricardo report forecasts penetration levels of 0.4% – 3.8% by 2020, offering potential volumes of up to four million units per year. As well as affordable hybrids, these could include high-performance cars where the ability to release energy very quickly (more quickly than batteries) provides an attractive, differentiating ‘press to pass’ function.
http://www.torotrak.com/news/2013/03/torotrak-acquires-20-of-flybrid-automotive-ltd/
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