ESCONDIDO, CA, August 1, 2010 - TransPower, an advanced clean energy technology company, announced today that it has been awarded a $1 million competitive grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for component development and manufacturing planning related to production of battery-electric trucks.
TransPower was one of eleven companies selected to receive grants or loans on the basis of a CEC competition for “Manufacturing Plants: Electric Vehicles, Alternative Fuel Vehicles, Vehicle Components and Batteries.” Funding of these projects is contingent upon approval of these projects at a publicly noticed Business Meeting at the Energy Commission in Sacramento, California.
TransPower's funding will support planning and preparations for a vertically integrated manufacturing facility for electric trucks in Southern California. As part of these preparations, TransPower and its strategic partners will develop and validate core components of TransPower's battery-electric drive system. TransPower CEO Michael Simon stated, “This financing will significantly advance TransPower's efforts to demonstrate the next generation of battery electric drive technology, which will enable even the largest Class 8 “semi” trucks to operate on zero-emission electric power. The Energy Commission's support will thus accelerate our nation's movement toward cleaner vehicles and energy independence, while creating new high skill, high wage jobs in California.”
TransPower's electric drive system utilizes a proprietary “Power Conversion and Control System” (PCCS) to regulate the flow of energy from a large battery pack to powerful drive motors. TransPower has strategic relationships with suppliers of low-cost lithium battery modules, proven drive motors, and advanced technology power conversion devices. By integrating these components with its own PCCS, TransPower creates a powerful, reliable, and cost-effective solution for powering trucks that completely eliminates harmful emissions, and that offers potentially lower life cycle costs than conventional diesel or natural gas engines or hybrid drive systems.
Under TransPower's vertically integrated manufacturing concept, three stages of electric truck manufacturing will be executed within the same facility: component assembly, drive system integration, and installation of the drive system into the vehicle. An innovative feature of this concept, to be validated under the CEC-funded project, will be the co-location of several companies to achieve full vertical integration.
About TransPower
TransPower, a privately-held California company, has been working to promote development of electric Class 8 trucks since mid-2007. Since 2009, TransPower has been developing its own proprietary design for an integrated electric drive system. In addition to developing an advanced integrated drive architecture and controls, TransPower has negotiated a series of strategic partnerships under which it is jointly developing electric motors, battery modules, and power converters customized for the Class 8 truck application. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.transpowerusa.com.
