Volvo just purchased a partial ownership of El-Forest AB, a Swedish company that developed a diesel-electric hybrid logging truck
The El-Forest system has a small diesel engine to power a generator. Electric motors drive all six wheels independently. The logging skidder is articulated between each set of wheels, enabling the driver to maneuver around a sharp corner, and over sharply rolling terrain.
The diesel hybrid system enables the vehicle to be lighter than an all-diesel counterpart. The diesel engine can be smaller, and since the wheels are driven electrically, no transmission, transfer case, driveshaft or differentials are needed. Because the diesel runs at a fixed speed, its emissions can be regulated more effectively.
The vehicle is not designed to run on battery power alone. There must be some sort of battery to capture the power generated while the vehicle is standing still, but there is no big bank of heavy batteries onboard.
This sort of engine technology is used in diesel-electric locomotives and those mammoth open pit mining trucks, so it's not a new technology. But this is one of the few times diesel-electric is employed in a smaller vehicle.
OK, nobody is going to use the El-Forest vehicle as an expedition camper. But the technology can be applied to smaller vehicles Volvo builds for the military export market.
Volvo is not alone in thinking diesel-electric is useful off-road. Here's an example of a prototype diesel-electric called the RST-V Shadow, built for the Marine Corps as a recon and laser-designating platform.
Chip Haven
The El-Forest system has a small diesel engine to power a generator. Electric motors drive all six wheels independently. The logging skidder is articulated between each set of wheels, enabling the driver to maneuver around a sharp corner, and over sharply rolling terrain.
The diesel hybrid system enables the vehicle to be lighter than an all-diesel counterpart. The diesel engine can be smaller, and since the wheels are driven electrically, no transmission, transfer case, driveshaft or differentials are needed. Because the diesel runs at a fixed speed, its emissions can be regulated more effectively.
The vehicle is not designed to run on battery power alone. There must be some sort of battery to capture the power generated while the vehicle is standing still, but there is no big bank of heavy batteries onboard.
This sort of engine technology is used in diesel-electric locomotives and those mammoth open pit mining trucks, so it's not a new technology. But this is one of the few times diesel-electric is employed in a smaller vehicle.
OK, nobody is going to use the El-Forest vehicle as an expedition camper. But the technology can be applied to smaller vehicles Volvo builds for the military export market.
Volvo is not alone in thinking diesel-electric is useful off-road. Here's an example of a prototype diesel-electric called the RST-V Shadow, built for the Marine Corps as a recon and laser-designating platform.
Chip Haven
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