Power inverters are essential to provide traction motors with power from batteries and most buses use two-level power inverters. David Segbers, eMobility Traction Product Manager at ABB explains how upgrading to new three-level inverters boost efficiency, power output and reliability.

A new cover for bus air-conditioning (A/C) systems made using natural fibre composite technology was unveiled at Busworld last month: the ampliTex technical fabric was supplied by Swiss company, Bcomp.

“We’ve made huge progress in electric drivetrain technology since the last Busworld event in 2019. We’re particularly excited about our new HES580 3-level inverter, which increased the motor efficiency and will be the motor-friendliest inverter on the market for bus powertrains," said David Segbers at Busworld 2023.

The company has unveiled its new hinged high-voltage connectors for heavy-duty electric vehicle charging, which increase cable-to-connector stability in high-voltage applications, thereby increasing performance, reliability and safety for users and operators.

The Iveco SpA / Plus Inc heavy-duty truck (Iveco S-Way) installed with Plus’s level 4 autonomous driving technology (‘PlusDrive’), has hit public roads in Germany.

Between 2023 and 2024, the Swiss-French manufacturer of building materials will receive an initial batch of 130 Volvo ‘FH’ and ‘FM’ battery electric trucks.

Having access to megawatt chargers would mean that drivers would be able to recharge their trucks to near-full energy capacity during their statutory 45-minute breaks, Scania stated.

ZF says it will launch series production of a new modular inverter architecture in 2025, which will contain silicon carbide components supplied by STMicroelectronics.

First Hydrogen has revealed plans for its Generation II concept vehicle, designed with either fuel cell electric or battery electric drive trains.

Testing of the Iveco Bus / Plus Inc heavy-duty truck (Iveco S-Way) installed with Plus’s level 4 autonomous driving technology (‘PlusDrive’), is set to expand from Germany into Austria, Italy and Switzerland in March 2023 in order to collect more complex road data and ultimately go into series production.

This follows an initial agreement of purchase/sale signed on December 17, 2018, for 80.1 per cent of the equity to be procured by Hitachi.

BorgWarner has announced it has agreed terms to buy existing power electronics manufacturing supplier, Bern-based Drivetek, for USD37 million, of which USD27 million was delivered at closing, with the additional USD10 million being paid over the next three years.