A Humvee made by American General.
(Credit: AM General)Lithium-ion battery manufacturer EnerDel has signed an 18-month, $1.29 million contract with the U.S. Army to design and test hybrid battery options for the Humvee.
Trying to power the iconic fuel-guzzling High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV aka Humvee) with a battery, may seem like trying to put out a fire with a garden hose. But a lithium-ion battery system can deliver a lot of power from a battery quickly, giving a truck like the Humvee the thrust it requires.
EnerDel, a subsidiary of Ener1, will collaborate with the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) on four possible power systems that could be implemented in the XM1124 version of the Humvee.
The company, which specializes in battery cell chemistry as well as the electronics and battery system designs, said it already has two viable options. EnerDel has developed a lithium-tatinate system in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory that could accommodate the acceleration and hard braking required for such a powerful vehicle like the Humvee. It also has a lithium-manganese system that would give a vehicle extra-long range and allow electronics to be run off the battery for extended periods of time before needing to be recharged.
As part of the 18-month contract, EnerDel will also be involved in testing the systems under "extreme performance simulations." In addition to putting the test vehicles through the usual Humvee paces of wading through water and mountain climbing, there will also be an endurance test.
That will include seeing how a hybrid Humvee fares as a power plant for a field hospital or temporary military post. The requirement makes perfect sense given the ease with which a Humvee can be transported to hard-to-reach areas. One of its key features has always been that it could be dropped in to virtually any terrain by parachute.
A Humvee being parachuted out of a plane.
(Credit: AM General)The hybrid Humvee will also be more stealthy. Anyone who's had a close call with a Prius knows how dangerously silent hybrids can be in total battery mode. The hybrid version of the Humvee will have a powered-down "silent watch" mode that will allow it to run with its diesel generator off, reducing not only its noise, but also its thermal signature to avoid detection.
As always with major military project announcements, the company involved was quick to point out the down-the-road commercial application of its technology.
"In keeping with a long tradition, we also expect that innovations perfected here will have important benefits for the commercial markets," EnerDel President Rick Stanley said in a a statement.
There has already been interest in Raser Technologies' H3E, a plug-in hybrid version of a Hummer-branded SUV called the H3. While not truly a Hummer (the civilian version of the Humvee), the "Hummer-light" descendant has garnered the interest of even the most discerning Hummer enthusiasts.
So if EnerDel's batteries might be good enough to power a Hummvee, why haven't commercial automakers been knocking? They have actually. The company has signed research partnerships of varying commitment levels with Think Global, Fisker Automotive, Volvo, and Nissan. Its parent company, Ener1, is also working with U.S. utilities to develop smart grid storage units.
Amid recent developments of General Motors' chapter 11 bankruptcy and its decision to sell the all-mighty Hummer brand to a Chinese company, there's a silver lining. And it's a big one.
The U.S. Army wanted to make it crystal clear Thursday that the HMMWV (widely known as "Humvee")--the original High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle that inspired the creation of the Hummer--will continue to be made in the United States, by an American-owned company.
According to Lt. Col. Martin Downie, the U.S. Army's spokesman, though the Army's Humvee and the civilian Hummer look similar and share a common appearance, the rights to produce those two different vehicles are no longer owned by the same company.
The manufacturer of the Humvee has always been AM General, an American company based in South Bend, Ind. The company produced the first 55,000 Humvees for the Army in 1985 and it continues today to produce the Humvee for the military.
In the early 1990s, AM General began producing a civilian version of the Humvee, calling it a "Hummer." By the late 1990s, AM General sold the Hummer name to General Motors.
It's important to note that if the deal goes through, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, the Chinese-based prospective buyer of the Hummer brand, will not have access to the military's Humvee, including its designs, unique performance capabilities, and technologies.
Nonetheless, there's one thing Sichuan Tengzhong for sure will gain access to and possibly take advantage of: the vehicle's capability to use a lot of gasoline in a short distance.
Toyota and 24 participating Audubon sites nationwide will host TogetherGreen Volunteer Days in celebration of Earth Day to provide thousands with opportunities to take hands-on, local conservation action.
Activities will take place on April 18, April 25, and May 2. Activities will include habitat and trail restoration, river and lake cleanups, invasive species removal, nest-box building, wildlife, and plant surveys.
To date, 5,850 TogetherGreen volunteers have donated more than 28,000 volunteer hours at 40 Audubon locations. More than 40 partner organizations, including the Sierra Club, AmeriCorps, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Toyota employees and their families, have participated in TogetherGreen Volunteer Days.
(Source: Toyota)
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