Machines | Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, Canada

Working closely with industry partners the Faculty of Engineering at McGill University, Canada, is engineering an electric drivetrain for Class 4 medium duty delivery trucks (step vans) to improve efficiency and reduce emissions from this type of vehicle. By switching to electric, CO2 and other harmful emissions can be eliminated at the vehicle level. Also, the province of Quebec’s electricity is generated from nearly all renewable sources, and this makes it an ideal location for the electrification of transportation. With funding from Automotive Partnerships Canada, the team is working to produce a full-electric drivetrain including a multi-speed transmission in order to improve climbing, acceleration, and top speed abilities while maintaining or improving the efficiency of the overall system. Activities also include the design of high efficiency motors, motor drives, and novel transmission types, as well as overall system integration. http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~boulet