Affordable and emission-free: Light electric trucks for Asian megacities
sps ipc drives 2013: Linde Material Handling and Korean electronics manufacturer Power
With over 23 million inhabitants, the Seoul metropolitan region ranks fourth among the ten most densely populated areas worldwide. In addition to the South Korean capital, six more of these conurbations are found in Asia, including Jakarta, Mumbai and Shanghai. Countless light trucks and mini buses are out and about on the streets there, supplying shops and businesses. This holds great potential to save CO2 emissions through electromobility. For this reason, the Seoul-based electronics manufacturer Power Plaza Co. Ltd. has been building electric cars since 2010and will be offering a light electric truck named “Peace” as from the next year. The drive technology is derived from forklift trucks from Linde Material Handling – a Linde eco-Kit M with 28 kW peak power. It accelerates the vehicle, which weighs in at only 550 kg, up to 105 km/h.
The first such vehicle, which is ready for volume production, made an appearance at the IAA 2013 in Frankfurt and can now be viewed at the sps ipc drives in Hall 3, Booth 210. Power Plaza recently ob-tained permission for this truck to be used on the road in South Korea. The country’s government is supporting electromobility with a generous funding scheme, which means that the purchase price of the mini truck will be below €10,000 for local authorities and private enterprises. In the medium term, the company plans to offer “Peace” for in-company traffic or for use at airports in Europe. The small electric truck is based on the GM Labo, which is produced in South Korea and retrofitted by Power Plaza itself. The battery and the electronic system which have also been developed by the company are fitted in a mono-case installed underneath the seats and the cargo area. The battery allows for a cruise range of 150 km. The motor of the Linde eco-Kit is flanged to the vehicle’s original transmission.
Cost-effective and emission-free on the streets of Seoul: “Peace”, the light electric truck from the Korean company Power Plaza is powered by an eco-Kit M from Linde Material Handling.
“The robust and low-maintenance drive technology from our industrial trucks is ideally suited for vehicles such as the Power Plaza Peace,” says Maik Manthey, Vice President of New Business & Products at Linde Material Handling. “Therefore we are pleased that Power Plaza relies on us as a partner. The market potential for the Peace in its home market alone opens up the great opportunity for us to gain a foothold with our offer in Asia.”
Under its “eMotion” heading, Linde Material Handling is concentrating its expertise in electric drive and control technology, developing new intelligent system solutions for electric propulsion. For the electrification of vehicles the company offers pre-built drive kits consisting of an electric motor, control system, converter, power module and software that can be individually adjusted to the vehicle in question. The fact that these components come from the series production of electric industrial trucks means that the Linde eco-Kits allow for cost-effective electromobility in many areas of application. Available in the three variants S, M and L, these kits provide maximum power of between 16 and 50 kW and are also on display on the eMotion booth in Hall 3.