A Flexible Net Zero Hybrid Power System for Off Highway Applications

The collaboration between Perkins Engines Company Limited, Equipmake, and Loughborough University is to design, develop and demonstrate an innovative 'drop-in' pre-integrated, highly configurable electric hybrid power system capable of operating using hydrogen or lower carbon intensity fuels that a wide-range of customers can readily incorporate into their off-highway vehicles and machines.

Many off-highway vehicle and machine manufacturers lack the scale and resources to integrate advanced power systems into their products. This is limiting the penetration of reduced carbon power systems in the UK Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) markets. This will impact the ability of industry to support the UK government's targets for net zero in industrial sectors such as construction and infrastructure.

As outlined in the Advanced Propulsion Centre's roadmap 2040 report, the energy transition for off road vehicles will require a diverse range of alternative fuels \[including hydrogen and lower-carbon intensity fuels,\] combined with varying degrees of electrification. The most appropriate solution for each application will be determined by the operational profile of the machine, as well as availability of different energy sources at the work site.

Many of these different fuel types require significant differences in engine design and can produce different power characteristics which effect transmission and machine design. This makes integrating them into the thousands of machine types used to perform different job functions, a big challenge.

Using the vast skills of project partners, this project proposes that through an innovative combination of power system design and electric hybridisation, a flexibly fuelled drop-in replacement powerpack is possible, greatly reducing the barriers to change and accelerating the transition to net zero for many non-road mobile machine applications.