Canada

Montreal MACK truck dealer, is the first to be EV certified in Canada.

Mack Laval’s Dorval facility in Montreal, Quebec, is now a Mack Trucks Certified Electric Vehicle (EV) Dealer. It is the first Mack dealer in Canada to accomplish this designation. Now, Mack Laval in Dorval to service and support the Mack LR®Electric refuse truck, Mack’s first fully electric Class 8 vehicle.

Mack began production of the LR Electric in December 2021 at Mack’s Lehigh Valley Operations facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, where all Class 8 Mack vehicles for North America and export are assembled.

There are numerous stringent safety, charging, infrastructure, tooling and training requirements that dealers must adhere to, to achieve EV certification. Facility upgrades are often required and can amount to a significant investment.

Mack Laval in Dorval has six bays dedicated to battery-electric vehicle maintenance and repairs at its Montreal facility, with two ports for chargers, allowing flexibility to service more than one electric vehicle at a time. The 40,000 square-foot facility has eight technicians, including one foreman and one trainer, that are EV certified, as well as 10 master technicians.

Mack Trucks recently announced that its next generation Mack LR Electric is now available for order. The next generation LR Electric features a standard 376 kWh total battery capacity for an increased range. Featuring twin electric motors, the Mack LR Electric offers 448 continuous horsepower and 4,051 lb.-ft. of peak output torque from zero RPM.

Featuring a copper-colored Bulldog on the cab indicating the electric drivetrain, the LR Electric is equipped with four NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) lithium-ion batteries that are charged by a 150kW SAEJ1772-compliant charging system. Along with vehicle propulsion, the four batteries also provide all power for every onboard accessory, driven through 12V, 24V and 600V circuits. The two-stage regenerative braking system helps recapture energy from the hundreds of stops the vehicle makes each day with an increasing load.

Canadian Light Source (CLS) researcher Toby Bond uses x-rays to help design more powerful electric vehicle batteries with longer lifetimes.

Toby’s research, published in The Journal of the Electrochemical Society, indicates that the charge/discharge cycles of batteries cause physical damage eventually leading to reduced energy storage. This research shows that cracks form in the battery material and depletion of vital liquids that carry charge.

Bond uses the BMIT facility at the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan to produce detailed commuted tomography (CT) scans of the inside of batteries. Bond also works with Dr. Jeff Dahn at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jeff Dahn is a Professor in the Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science and the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie University. He is recognized as one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery and specializes in electric vehicle batteries where the goal is to pack as much energy as possible in the smallest, most light weight battery pack.

In lithium-ion batteries, charging physically forces lithium ions between other atoms in the lithium electrode material, pushing them apart. Adding more charge causes more growth in the materials, which shrink back down when the lithium ions leave. Over many cycles, micro-cracks begin to form in the electrode material, slowly reducing its ability to hold a charge.

Traditionally, the cracks forming in a battery have been studied by taking the battery apart and looking at individual particles under an electron microscope. This destroys the battery, so it doesn’t allow researchers to preserve the larger structure and see what other effects this cracking might have on the rest of the battery. However, by using x-ray imaging at the CLS, Bond says researchers can study these effects in context, and see how cracking causes changes in the rest of the battery. In this study, the researchers discovered that as micro-cracking in the battery got worse, liquids in the cell were sucked up into the extra space between the cracks, which may not leave enough liquid to go around.

The team found that draining the battery a small amount caused less deterioration than discharging the battery all the way. This is likely because a smaller change in charge causes less physical strain on the battery electrode materials over time.

• Bond, Toby, Roby Gauthier, Ahmed Eldesoky, Jessie Harlow, and Jeff R. Dahn. "In Situ Imaging of Electrode Thickness Growth and Electrolyte Depletion in Single-Crystal vs. Polycrystalline LiNixMnyCozO2/Graphite Pouch Cells using Multi-Scale Computed Tomography." Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2022). https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac4b83

EV Around the World 🌏

Mercedes-Benz have produced more than 25,000 all-electric vans. The top seller for electric vans is the eVito, followed by the eSprinter and EQV.

The eVito was first presented in 2017, followed by the eSprinter in 2019 and the EQV in 2020. Mercedes-Benz Vans has electrified its entire portfolio. Mercedes-Benz has invested approximately $481 million CAD in the next generation of the eSprinter.

Sustainability is a key guiding principle of the future of Mercedez-Benz, which is why production at all Mercedes-Benz Vans plants will be CO2-neutral from 2022, and thus also the production of the next generation of the eSprinter.

Since 2010, Mercedes-Benz Vans has built up extensive expertise in the production of eVans, especially with respect to flexible production on a single production line. eVito, EQV and eSprinter run from the same production line as their internal combustion engine counterparts. This offers the advantage that the production can be altered to market needs without addition production line set ups, thus saving time and creating major efficiencies.

With three battery and several body variants from panel vans to chassis for box bodies, as examples, the next generation eSprinter is not only intended to open up new customer segments, but also new markets, including the USA and Canada.

Porsche AG is developing and testing the potential of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology in its EVs.

Taking it to the next level, rather than just deliver EVs that can supply energy back to the grid and not just pull from it, Porsche has run a V2G pilot program that utilizes multiple EVs whose high-voltage batteries are pooled to help keep the local electrical grid stabilized.

Bi-directional charging is a technological feature in which an EV can not only receive energy from an electrical source, but also send it back out where needed. Since it remains a relatively new concept, not all automakers have integrated bi-directional capabilities into their EVs yet.

For example, the new IONIQ 5 has bi-directional capabilities that support vehicle-to-load (V2L) functions. This means the EV can be used as a battery storage pack to power outside devices such as a TV, mini fridge, or even charge other EVs.

Taking that step further, Ford’s highly anticipated F-150 Lightning pickup has bi-directional capabilities, in that it can use its spare energy to power your home and appliances when connected to a charger, should a power outage or natural disaster occur (or if energy rates are simply too high during peak hours.)

However, commercial vehicles are by far leading the way in V2G capabilities to supply energy back to the grid during peak energy hours, when the vehicles are not in operation.

The process itself represents a new way that we can optimize energy usage on our grid without having to rely on power plants as backup sources for constant stability. Through a recent pilot program, Porsche has proven that V2G technology is a feasible and effective solution in supporting the grids its EVs are connected to.

The pilot test conducted by Porsche, the grid operator TransnetBW and consulting firm Intelligent Energy System Services (IE2S), has demonstrated and proved that electrical balancing power can be stored in the high-voltage batteries of intelligent electric cars. Five series-production Taycan were connected to the power grid via the Porsche Home Energy Manager (HEM) both in a domestic environment and under laboratory conditions.

Porsche points out that under current energy infrastructure, the grid must remain stable at a constant 50 Hertz power frequency to avoid risk of power outages. However, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are not always producing consistent amounts of energy, so conventional power plants are currently responsible for delivering necessary power to supplement these fluctuations. V2G technology in electric vehicles can be pooled together to back up renewable energy instead of relying on power plants, while simultaneously giving car owners the potential for passive income by selling their EV’s energy back to the grid.

It unclear exactly when drivers may see their Porsche with V2G capabilities, it will take some time, but the automaker is optimistic on the prospect of widespread adoption and will certainly continue to explore its potential.

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