bf auto dl xl hybrid story 8-20-2012BOSTON--XL Hybrids, a 10-person startup here trying to chew off achunk of the huge fuel-efficiency pie, today announced that JohnsonControls Inc. (Milwaukee, Wisc.) will supply the lithium-ion battery packs forXL's hybrid power trains for the fleet aftermarket.
The agreement is central to the company's strategy of sourcingcomponents from top supplier while adding value at thesystem-integration level, according to
Clay Siegart, a co-founderwho serves as vice president of XL Hybrids' supply chain.
"They understood about selling to fleets...how to make it aneconomic proposition for fleets," Siegert said. "We're trying tomake this right for fleets."
XL, founded here by MIT alums in 2009, the darkest days of therecession, is building hybrid electric drive trains specifically forClass 1-3 commercial fleets, for vehicles ranging from pickup trucksto vans used to deploy telecommunications.
The battery pack has 1.8 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy storage, apeak discharge power rating of 50 kW and a nominal voltage of 260V,according to the company. The pack will come from
JCI's LiOn facilityat Holland, Mich. in early 2013.
The systemXL, which was looking for fast and powerful energy from its batterypack selection, builds systems "geared toward short bursts ofassistant power and regenerative braking--10 seconds is a spec weused," said Justin Ashton, a co-founder who serves as vice presidentof business development.
The company's goal is to deliver a systeminstalled for $8,000 with a three-year payback on investment (muchof that in savings from reduced brake maintenance because of theregenerative braking system).
Neither Siegert nor Ashton would comment on the battery-packselection process other than to say it was the culmination of asix-to-nine-month process. In a 2010 report, the Center onGlobalization Governence and Competitiveness identified 18 otherdomestic battery-pack sources in addition to JCI, such as
A123,
Continental Automotive Systems U.S.,
Nissan,
EnerDel Inc., amongothers. It also identified three additional startups in the LiOnbattery pack business:
Atieva,
Dow Kokam and
Quallion.
While big car companies like GM also have battery-pack technology inthe works, it's not a big focus.
"There was a huge niche available when we started. There's stillthat same niche," Siegert said, adding, "OEMs are looking atimproving technology in engines and vehicles themselves rather thanlooking at electric drives themselves."
Market potentialAshton sees a near-term market that could stretch to hundreds ofthousands of fleet vehicles ("multibillion-dollars in annualretrofits"), but it remains a market at the mercy of happenstance,particularly the price of oil and natural gas--the latter a fuelthat's getting considerable uptake from the fleets.
XLHybrids' value-add comes in the hybrid controls andintegration, Siegert said, noting the companies hold two patents inthe area. One regards how technicians install and integrate thecomponents in a post-transmission parallel hybrid system, couplingthe electric permanent magnet motor to the line drive "in a novelway."
The second patent is software that ties a wireless device to avehicle, allowing wireless services to pull vehicle data into thecloud, analyze it and push relevant updates back to the vehiclebased on real world use, Sieger said.
XL Hybrids has sold hybrid Chevrolet Express vans to a few U.S.fleets for pilot testing, claiming reduced fuel consumption of up to21 percent on urban routes, the company said.
Byintegrating Johnson Controls’ Lithium-Ion battery packs, the systemis capable of reducing fuel consumption by up to 21 percent on urbanroutes, helping fleet managers reduce fuel costs without addedinfrastructure or changes to operations.
"2012 is a validation year," Ashton said. "We're in low volume pilottest phase and working toward getting bigger contracts for nextyear."
The hybrid Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans featuring the 1.8kWh battery pack from Johnson Controls will go on sale in 2013, thecompany said.
