A Whole New Meaning To Road Trains -- The Aussies Will Love This

When I read this story, the first thing I did was check the "list of 38."

Nope, Axion is not on the list.

Wow, this is another great story. It is absolutely impressive with what folks can imagine. I was thinking about that yesterday while sitting in Starbucks. In the Belmont, Massachusetts, Starbucks I used to visit often, they talked of politics. Here in Grapevine, Texas, every table, it seemed was filled with folks talking business deals, plans, strategies. It was really quite interesting.

But I digress.

Take a look at this story. It was probably developed on the back of a napkin in some coffee shop in Kentucky.

Rigzone is reporting:

A battery technology used to power locomotives can now fuel Class 8 heavy trucks, helping reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 65 percent.
New Castle, Penn.-based Axion Power International Inc. and ePower Engine Systems LLC of Florence, Kentucky are collaborating to offer Axion’s PbC batteries and ePower’s battery management system – which has been used in locomotives – to help power Class 8 heavy trucks.

Axion CEO Thomas Granville told Rigzone that the technology has applications for a number of industries that rely on Class 8 heavy trucks – or trucks weighing between 70,000 and 150,000 pounds – including the oil and gas industry. Granville said the company is working with several oil and gas companies, road truck fleet owners and original engine manufacturers that provide engine components to supply this technology for use in Class 8 heavy trucks.  

The combination of Axion’s PbC batteries with ePower’s hybrid system – in which electric hybrid 18-wheelers are retrofitted from standard internal combustion engines to series diesel electric hybrid drive train systems that include a string 56 PbC batteries – ePower estimates that fuel consumption can be reduced by approximately 35 percent.

A series electric drive truck does not have a mechanical link between the engine and wheels – the engine instead runs a generator, which powers an electric motor. Fuel efficiency is boosted by running the engine at peak revolutions per minute, eliminating the need for complex heavy truck transmissions while delivering the motor’s instant peak torque.

Road Trains in Western Australia
And, of course, regular readers know I would be posting this:

Lights On The Hill, Slim Dusty
Yes, Axion Power has a website.