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There are virtually no limits to the application
opportunities of TheWheel™ and
its related products. The most
logical application is deemed to be mass transit vehicles but, as illustrated
elsewhere, the technology also lends itself, for instance, extremely well for
container transporters. The sales prospects can be divided in many categories
governed by the intended result. For
most customers operational efficiency of TheWheel™ is deemed
to be the primary motivator with reduced environmental impact as a secondary
benefit. A significant marketing
target, however, will consider the reduced environmental impact the
overriding benefit and the operational savings an added bonus. Some customer will want to buy equipment designed from the
outset for TheWheel™,
while others may consider that retrofitting it to existing equipment is the most
cost effective solution.
Fuel consumption of a city bus could be reduced annually by 30,000 liters per bus (see: Elimination diesel traction: motor, transmission, differential: - €40K (new/unused resale value) Generator, batteries, battery chargers: + € 20-80K (depending on the operator's choices) A complete universal rear axle with two TheWheel™ SM500/2FE systems: + € 60K Estimated drive-away cost e-Traction® powered bus € 220,000 (after production of 100 units or more), or an incremental cost is expected of only € 20,000 or 10% per bus. For a numeric example of the cost of operating an e-Traction® powered bus in comparison to a standard bus you may also wish to follow the link to the Fuel Savings, Operational Efficiency and Reduced Environmental Impact. The reduced maintenance, increased reliability and fuel savings also make a fleet conversion highly attractive. If funds for a new fleet are not available a retrofit as part of scheduled maintenance is a very viable option. The estimated cost of a retrofit will drop substantially once quantities increase. The value of the conventional traction system that is being replaced is dependent on the amount of use it has had. Based on current estimates a retrofit will, therefore, roughly cost between € 100,000 and € 140,000 per bus. This expense is expected to drop to below € 60,000 and € 100,000 per bus due to economies of scale in the production of the traction system, axle, batteries and generator. Aside from the tremendous environmental benefits; significant operational and fuel savings will be rapidly offsetting this expense. Based on current average mileage estimates per bus and current fuel prices it will most likely take less than 795 days for the € 40,000 incremental cost to have been recovered (see: operational efficiency). A typical city transit bus has an economic lifespan of 13 years. That means that only 7½% of a fleet is being renewed in any given year. At the same time a retrofit with TheWheel™ will give the operator, conservatively estimated, still a net savings if a bus is less than 10 years old (and still is phased out after 13 years). The retrofit might also enable the operator to stretch the replacement beyond to customary 13 years. This means that in the short run the retrofit market for city transit busses potentially is at least 10 times the size of the new equipment market segment. |
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Send mail to info@e-Traction.com
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