SEA Electric make fully electric commercial vehicles and are quickly gaining international attention. While the sexy consumer battles of Tesla vs Porsche get plenty of headlines, the transition of commercial vehicles to electric powertrains is likely more difficult challenge and one Australians are not shying away from.
The Aussie company achieved another important milestone this week, with the successful granting of the patent for its SEA-Drive technology in Australia. The ‘Management System for Commercial Electric Vehicles’ patent was granted on the 28th of February 2020 after the initial submission on the 18th April 2017 (yep, our patent office works quickly).
The patent
The patent covers a management system for a commercial electric vehicle (EV), comprising:
- A controller area network (CAN) comprising a plurality of CAN buses connected to a plurality of components of the EV.
- A vehicle controller connected to the CAN and configured to monitor and/or control the plurality of components of the EV based on CAN signals.
Wherein the plurality of CAN buses and their respective components comprise:
- A drive CAN bus connected to a motor controller system comprising a motor controller connected to an electric motor.
- A battery CAN bus connected to a battery system comprising a high−voltage (HV) battery.
- A telematics CAN bus connected to a telematics system.
Wherein the vehicle controller is further configured to:
- Measure operating temperature of the motor controller and adjust the speed of a cooling pump and a radiator fan to maintain a predetermined operating temperature.
- Monitor a state of battery contactors of the HV battery and optimize an amount of time required to start the EV.
The milestone is the culmination of many years of research, product development and system optimization. This was reached after tens of thousands of miles of testing on SEA Electric’s generation 1 power-system technology, combined with the now patented generation 2 power-system, known as SEA-Drive.
The company now has more than a million miles of performance validation data to show it’s benefits of performance, cost and weight.
“Our overnight success has been almost a decade in the making and is a credit to the incredible team built by SEA Electric. Australian Universities have recognized the importance of this automotive segment and have invested in producing some of the best electric vehicle engineering talent in the world.
Our employees are practically, intellectually and emotionally invested in finding solutions to the real-world problems associated with hydrocarbon fueled commercial vehicles.”
SEA Electric’s Founder and President, Tony Fairweather reflects.
SEA Electric’s SEA-Drive technology is patent pending in another 15 countries/regions, and it is expected further approvals like Australia’s will come into effect throughout 2020.
“With the granting of this patent, SEA Electric further enhances its reputation as a Commercial Electric Vehicle innovator and disruptor. The SEA-Drive technology is designed to exceed the unique performance requirements of commercial vehicles and it is a proven alternative power train to existing hydrocarbon fueled solutions.
SEA Electric is continuing to develop, enhance and deploy its electric SEA-Drive technology in collaboration with like-minded OEM’s across a range of van and truck-based platforms in all major global markets.” Glen Walker, Regional Director for SEA Electric’s Oceania Region. READ MORE
Techau, Posted by Jason Cartwright on March 2, 2020
