A high quality, pure electric demonstration vehicle has been developed by this Niche Vehicle consortia in 6 months. Using a variant of Zytek’s fully engineered, production 70kW electric powertrain, an all electric version of the Mercedes Vito Taxi has been developed by the following a consortium of high technology companies:
Zytek Automotive are based in Lichfield and design, develop and manufacture a range of Electric Drive systems for a variety of vehicle manufacturers.
Penso based in Coventry, creating innovative engineering solutions in all areas of the automotive, aerospace and rail industry, and are niche vehicle manufacturer and currently complete the conversion of the existing IC engined vehicle to a taxi.
Vocis/Graziano, Vocis are based in Warwick and Oerlikon Graziano in Torino, Italy, highly experienced in transmission and driveline engineering and manufacturing for all types of passenger cars and trucks”
Mercedes Benz UK, manufacturer of the donor taxi vehicle amongst a range of luxury passenger cars
Valence technology, based in Belfast and global leader in lithium iron magnesium phosphate energy storage solutions.
Through the Advantage Niche Vehicle Programme, AWM awarded the Zytek consortium a £120,000 grant for collaborative research and development, to develop the Electric taxi, the programme started in July and was completed in January, the vehicle will shortly commence testing. Mercedes Benz donated the taxi for conversion to full electric. Penso have completed much of the BIW engineering and mechanical design. The vehicle is fitted with the rear steering conversion supplied by One80 Ltd, this allows the vehicle to meet the requirements of the Public Carriage Office and is licensed for use as a 'London Taxi' The current Zytek 70kW Edrive is an “integrated unit” i.e. the inverter and motor are assembled as a single unit, although perfect for heavier vehicles the size of the integrated unit compromises under bonnet applications into smaller passenger cars. To provide a more flexible solution for a variety of applications, Zytek’s engineers have re-engineered the system as a separate motor and inverter. The separated 70kW motor is mated to a custom Vocis/Graziano transmission with a single ratio of 8.3:1 to give a wheel torque of 2,500Nm, excellent acceleration and an electrically limited top speed of 75mph. The complete assembly is installed onto the modified engine mounting points with just three additional connections (water, high voltage electrics and low voltage electrics) and will interface with all existing vehicle systems including ABS (Antilock Braking System) and ESP (Electronic Stability Programme). The current taxi is rear wheel drive but using the components from the Vito’s four wheel drive model the vehicle is converted to front wheel drive freeing the under floor area for installation of the energy source.
The 38kWh battery power pack will contains cooled Valence U27-12XP cells, neatly installed in a weatherproof tray beneath the vehicle floor, so the internal space of the taxi will remain unaffected by the electric conversion, not compromising luggage space and improving vehicle stability. The completed vehicle will shortly undergo range tests but Zytek’s engineers are already predicting a range expected to exceed 120miles in a typical mixed drive cycle and the level of regenerative braking can be easily calibrated to match customer requirements for driveability and refinement. Performance of the electric taxi is predicted to be similar to the IC engined vehicle “The performance and range of this taxi will be perfect for inner city transportation,” highlights programme manager Neil Cheeseman." Zytek Automotive sales and marketing director Steve Tremble agrees. “One of the reasons for building the demonstrator was to show the flexibility of the 70kW E drive, which will be developed to provide compact front wheel drive installation for a wide variety of passenger car applications” he says. “We look forward to driving the taxi, our modelling predicts the drivability will be excellent, with performance and refinement that comfortably meets users expectations.” Taking a vehicle like this into manufacture would be relatively simple, says Tremble. “The E-Drive is a derivative of the production 70kW system currently supplied to Modec, requiring the minimum of validation”
The £2.5million Advantage Niche Vehicle Research and Development Programme (ANV) is creating a competitive boost to the region’s niche vehicle manufacturers by promoting innovation through collaborative research and development and adoption of accelerated technology.
Advantage Niche Vehicle is managed and led by CENEX, the Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technology, and supported by Coventry University (CUE).