ePTO or Electric Power Take Off for Battery Electric Trucks and Commercial Vehicles-Air Cooled 10 kW
PRODUCT FEATURES
ELECTRIC POWER TAKE OFF:
Any means of electrical or electro mechanical power take off can be considered as an ePTO. OEM chassis manufactures can provide a DC output on their PDU which is an electrical ePTO. If this DC output is used to power a dedicated electric motor coupled with any kind of auxiliary equipment such as a hydraulic pump, then it would be considered as an electro mechanical power take off.
In traditional PTO setups, power was taken directly from the ICE engine, chassis transmission or drive line and there was no electric motor involved. The means of taking power was purely mechanical and eventually coming from the ICE engine. In ePTO setups, power is taken as DC current from batteries and then transformed to mechanical power if required.
ePTO or electromechanical power take off solutions comes in modular and easy to install packages with seamless integration with OEM high voltage circuits and can be used to power a wide range of work truck applications on electric trucks and chassis. Mechanical ePTO packages consist of integrated components in one easy to install and modular package. Each ePTO or electric power take off can be programmed to fit individual work applications with wide range of hydraulic and power requirements.
Traditional power take off gearboxes are responsible for providing an auxiliary power output to run a wide range of equipment such as hydraulic systems on vocational truck applications. Most common versions of these PTO gearboxes are the transmission PTO or the split shaft PTO. The former relies on a transmission opening and the latter on a drive shaft. With the Introduction of the fuel cell and battery electric trucks and commercial vehicles, both the transmission and drive shaft as we know it has been eliminated for now so creating a void for bodybuilders who rely on a PTO to power their equipment.
An ePTO or electro mechanical power take off simply provides the same function by providing a separate electric motor unit that has been specifically designed and tuned to run auxiliary equipment. The electric motor taps into the truck high voltage system via a dedicated output provided by OEM’s and communicates with the chassis control system using CAN-Bus protocols.
ePTOs used in electric vehicles offer several advantages as well. In terms of energy management, he said electric motor does not have to run all the time which helps to improve efficiency. The electric motor’s ability to instantly speed up enables immediate use of the hydraulic system, enabling operators to remain productive.
In addition, it will no longer be necessary to have several variations of speed ratios because desired speeds can be set electronically. This will aid OEMs in developing different variants of their trucks as they will be able to use the same PTO and just modify the electric motor software as needed.
Development of ePTOs is on the rise due to the growth of electric vehicles and the necessity of these systems for powering their auxiliary equipment and hydraulics. But they can also be used in conventional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles.
For a more in depth look at ePTO solutions please read this article at Power & Motion.
