All Green Vehicles (AGV) is the leading supplier of high speed electric vehicles in the Netherlands. AGV both converts and sells electric vehicles from a range of OEMs including Ford, MAN and Oullim of Korea to name but a few. AGV has also been involved in the conversion of Toyota Priuses to plug-in hybrids and the development of an electric version of the Spirra sports car from Korea. Follow this link to see the Electric Spirra in action. AGV headquarters is located in a state of the art production facility in Oosterhout, Netherlands and has a current production capacity of over 600 vehicles/annum.
To make a reliable, safe and refined electric vehicle is not a trivial challenge. Everything from the Battery pack to the chassis and drivetrain electronics need to be carefully engineered.
Starting with the drivetrain, DC brushless motors were chosen as this type of electric motor is more efficient, more compact and has lower cooling requirements than your typical AC induction motors, which are of course, cheaper. The motor has been mounted to maintain the crumple zones essential for crash safety.
The motor controller is coupled with the LiTHIUM BALANCE Battery Management System to ensure the drivetrain utilises the batteries safely and efficiently. The BMS broadcasts continuously over CAN to provide the drivetrain with battery status information, such as SoC, allowable discharge and regen (regenerative braking) currents. Errors and warnings are also broadcast over CAN allowing the drivetrain to make intelligent safety decisions.
The transmission is a single speed, reduction gearbox. The usual trick of vehicle converters, using the standard gearbox and fixing it in second gear, removes some of the benefits of the electric drivetrain including efficiency, with more meshing gear sets creating losses and torque transfer, electric motors generate high levels of torque at low speed, far in excess of what an internal combustion engine of a similar power would deliver. This means that the electric motor needs to be down rated to prevent it from stripping the cogs in a normal gearbox.
The battery pack is the heart of an electric vehicle. AGV have mounted the 25.7kWh pack under the floor above the rear axle. This low position provides good ride and handling as it lowers the vehicle’s centre of gravity and puts weight over the rear axle to improve the ride.
The battery box is fabricated aluminium to provide strength while minimising weight and it incorporates the contactor box. The contactors are controlled by the LiTHIUM BALANCE Battery Management System, whereby in the event of a critical error, the system will open the contactors rendering the battery safe.
The cells are lithium ion polymer pouch cells built into a dedicated 4p8s module integrated with the battery
management system from LiTHIUM BALANCE.
The dimensioning of the pack and the mounting of the modules within the pack have all been done so as to optimise the range and maximise the safety, with modules being fixed top and bottom within the pack. A steel skid is placed ahead of the battery box to protect it from debris on the road.
The end result of all this effort has been an OEM quality electric vehicle that excels due to its refinement and driving characteristics while looking as if it has been engineered to last.
This represents the perfect marriage of application to solution. Trucks are typically noisy, smelly brutish things with complicated gearboxes and noisy brakes. When used in an urban environment to deliver goods from depots to sales outlets, we all know how poorly they fit in.
The AGV MAN benefits from the torque rich nature of an electric drivetrain, once again using a brushless DC motor, to provide near silent travel and a relaxing driving experience as the vehicle moves away from standstill up to 100km/h without a single gear change and very little noise beyond the gentle wind rustle around the cabin.
With a modular 120kWh battery pack onboard located in 5 boxes, both sides and in between the chassis rails, and a short motor bolting directly to the axle differential, the packaging is exceptionally neat allowing coachbuilders to mount vehicle bodies without any compromise on space or positioning.
The battery is controlled by the LiTHIUM BALANCE s-BMS system which communicates with the motor controller providing safe charging and operation including a gradual reduction of power as the battery SoC drops to extend range and protect the batteries. On such heavy vehicles, the application of regenerative braking provides real benefits lessening braking loads while saving energy.
Once again, masterful work has been done to reverse engineer the chassis electronics to provide a fully functioning cabin and dashboard and the overall fit and finish is of the highest order.
