HOLBROOK, N.Y. — Solo Advanced Vehicle Technologies has selected the uniqueEV® battery electric drive system from Unique Electric Solutions to power its first test trucks.
To ensure Solo meets its goal of closed road testing in 2022, Unique Electric Solutions has repowered a Class 8 chassis, which is now powered by a high torque motor, 600volt lithium-ion phosphate batteries, and all associated drive electronics and software. This ground-up heavy truck platform will be compatible with any autonomous driving software, thereby solving the inefficiency of retrofitting today’s human-centric diesel trucks for autonomous driving.
“Our test trucks are an essential component of our development process,” Graham Doorley, CEO of Solo, said. “The design and engineering of our earliest test vehicles will inform every choice we hone in on for our alpha truck, the SD1 Heavy. When we went about identifying partners to get us to testing in short order, UES delivered with a fast, cost-effective, and low risk method of repowering our chassis. We look forward to all that we’ll learn together and ultimately how that will determine the parameters for Solo’s production powertrain.”
Unique Electric Solutions has seen dramatic growth in demand of electric conversions, also known as repowers. Repowering is the process of taking existing, in-service gas or diesel-powered vehicles and converting – or retrofitting – them to battery-electric powertrains. This provides all the benefits of a new, electric truck including zero tailpipe emissions, quiet operation, and dramatic reduction in operating costs. Repowering to electric is a faster, cheaper and easier way to go electric with commercial trucks and buses.
“Solo is leading the way not only in building the world’s most advanced truck platform, but in the matter they are developed, designed, and tested,” Joe Ambrosio, CEO of Unique Electric Solutions, said. “We are pleased they have chosen us to partner on this initial test vehicle.”
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