TheWheel™ - Prototype Applications

After five years of development, the introduction of TheWheel™ SM500/1 system finally took place in 2001. In cooperation with the energy company NUON it was installed as a watermill driven generator at “het Geldersch Landschap”.  This unit continues to run flawlessly at an equivalent of 50,000 kilometers per year in a wet environment generating roughly 20,000 KWH annually.

The first vehicle application of TheWheel™ SM500/1 to a technology demonstrator forklift truck for SKF, followed in April 2002.  Not only did this HFO forklift-truck include the TheWheel™ and its electronic controls, e-Traction^® also designed and installed electric components needed to enable all other movements (steering and lifting) without the use of hydraulic fluids.

In November 2002, e-Traction Europe B.V. delivered the first fully mechanically operational People Mover Vehicle to the “Koningin Juliana Toren” amusement park in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.  This 15-passenger vehicle utilizes two TheWheel™ SM500/1 units mounted on the e-Traction^® Suspension Arm. It was originally intended to shuttle visitors from the parking lot to the park’s entrance.  The exterior “Mouse” design is consistent with the theme of the amusement park.

The projects described thus far utilized the SM500/1 version of TheWheel™.   As a two-wheel version this unit delivers sufficient traction needed to power cars in the SUV class and smaller transit vehicles.  By installing four of these units the traction capabilities double, which should suffice for lightweight buses, and which would obviously also significantly improve bad weather road handling characteristics. The series was augmented in June 2004 by TheWheel SM500/2, which has a 100% increase in performance despite a less than 30% increase in width.  This is of particular significance for applications that need more torque and/or are restricted with the placement of larger diameter motors in vehicles.

The TheWheel™ SM500/2FE system, with roughly double the performance of the TheWheel™ SM500/1, with merely a less than 30% increase in width, was added to the product line in June 2004.  The SM500/2 system was specifically designed for and applied on the e-Traction^® Bus, a Technology Demonstrator bus. This conventional “hybrid” bus originally built for RET in 1998, the public transit company of Rotterdam, was abandoned after achieving disappointing results. The Company managed to assume ownership and obtain a government subsidy to fund a portion of the cost of the conversion of the e-Traction^® Bus.

This monocoque light-weight bus has been made with aerospace composite building techniques developed by the former Fokker Company. What originally seemed a fairly straightforward conversion task became much more involved as additional potential improvements were identified and subsequently implemented. The rear axle was redesigned, the generator was completely revamped, Lithium-ion batteries were installed and the electronics were brought up to our much higher standards.

As part of a truly groundbreaking project in the Netherlands through cooperation between the town of Apeldoorn (sponsor), the Province of Gelderland (subsidy provider), Connexxion (bus operator), Berkhof (coach builder), and NUON (local energy company) the first TheWheel™ SM700/3 systems were installed on a new VDL Berkhof Ambassador 200 bus, specially adapted by e-Traction^® in the Summer and Fall of 2003 and subsequently dubbed “the Whisper^®”.

This early version of “the Whisper^®” met most expectations, but a reduction in the diameter of the traction system and another choice of energy storage was deemed essential for ultimate commercial success. After also assuming complete ownership of this bus, conversion work started in October 2004 with, amongst many other improvements, the installation of the newly developed TheWheel™ SM500/2FE offering attractive advantages due to its smaller size and much lower rolling resistance.

The newly configured Whisper^® was unveiled on March 30^th, 2005 by national, regional and local dignitaries.