[blackwasp]

Greaves Cotton has announced a strategic partnership with Altigreen Propulsion Labs, a US and Bangalore based start-up to give hybrid powertrain options to 3-wheeler and micro 4-wheeler commercial vehicles.

The partnership's first product launch will be Altigreen's Hybrid Power Intelligent Exchange Drive (HyPixi) which is a low-cost aftermarket hybrid powertrain. It consists of a 48V battery unit that will be installed in the boot of the car, a motor control unit and a motor-generator that will be connected to the engine via the engine belt. The system is ARAI approved and is protected by patents in USA and other countries. The product is also certified under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR).

The retrofit HyPixi system does not require external charging as it incorporates regenerative braking. The system is similar to the SHVS mild hybrid offered by Maruti Suzuki on the Ciaz, Ertiga and the facelifted S-Cross, although they use a smaller capacity battery (12V). The company claims an improvement in fuel efficiency of up to 25 percent and a return on investment period of less than a year. Initially, the product will be available for 4-wheelers with gross vehicle weight of less than 2 tonnes.

According to Greaves Cotton, there are an estimated 5 million Greaves-powered vehicles on the Indian roads today. These passenger and cargo vehicles will be the first vehicles to be offered the hybrid retrofit solution in India through Greaves' 3,500+ aftersales network.



Link to Team-BHP News

[sleepyk]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

The partnership's first product launch will be Altigreen's Hybrid Power Intelligent Exchange Drive (HyPixi) which is a low-cost aftermarket hybrid powertrain. It consists of a 48V battery unit that will be installed in the boot of the car, a motor control unit and a motor-generator that will be connected to the engine via the engine belt. The system is ARAI approved and is protected by patents in USA and other countries. The product is also certified under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR).

This is a good alternative to CNG and would go a long way towards promoting electrification in the lower segment.
Its proliferation would greatly increase ground level awareness about hybrids in the common man as well.
There should be incentives for such projects.
Shame the government has pulled even the FAME scheme.

[Reinhard]

A wonderful idea! However, why only for CVs? Wouldn't passenger car owners be interested in this? 3 wheelers are predominantly auto-rickshaws. They are resistive to installing digital fare meters, CNG kits. They'll not pay for this kit in the remotest possibility.

[Turbanator]

Is it different from something being discussed here?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...bangalore.html

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Is it different from something being discussed here?
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...bangalore.html

Its the same, but here we can see that the company has tied up with commercial users primarily, which have a faster return on investment than individual owners.

Here's what GTO said almost a year ago and looks like Altigreen are going in the similar direction. The product does have potential, however the monetary saving are best demonstrated on fleet/commercial users. Its a win-win for both. The initial adopters get some savings over a period of time and the company gets the volume. Few years down the line this retrofit could cost significantly lower than today.

Originally Posted by GTO

Such a product will be dead on arrival. There's no market for it. Instead, what the company should try doing is supplying it as an OEM to manufacturers...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

A wonderful idea! However, why only for CVs?

Because no one else has listened to them yet. OEM manufacturers feel that if they have to sell hybrids, they'll develop it themselves.

3 wheelers are predominantly auto-rickshaws. They are resistive to installing digital fair meters, CNG kits. They'll not pay for this kit in the remotest possibility.

I would say that if it succeeds in the CV market, that means the product works. The commercial vehicle owner is a lot shrewder than the privateer, and counts every rupee that goes into operating the vehicle.

[Nissan1180]

Originally Posted by GTO

Because no one else has listened to them yet. OEM manufacturers feel that if they have to sell hybrids, they'll develop it themselves.

If I recall correctly, there was a similar product launched by Cummins in 2010. Here's the Team-Bhp thread about it.

The Altigreen website lacks details about their technology. From what I understood reading the patent, it is a motor that's connected to the crankshaft and supplies torque at low speeds to reduce the load on the engine. The figure below has been taken from the patent application.

Essentially, it helps to reduce the work that the engine has to do at low speeds and then recharges the battery by switching to a generator mode when brakes are applied. They have 3 patents which relate to the motor and the electrical system that's used.

This is definitely an attempt at a genuine hybrid vehicle. What Mahindra called the mild hybrid system was just a feature to stop the engine when the vehicle is idling and it had no connection to a electric propulsion system. Even the Ciaz used that technology, and 'Hybrids' became associated with start-stop systems in India. Hopefully Altigreen will change things.

[yatin]

How would warranties of new vehicles work? Is Greaves confident of retrofitting a HyPixi unit into a new vehicle of theirs?

As mentioned by @ajmat in the other thread, that's a limiting factor for people considering this in a new car. With extended warranties & automobile manufacturers' likely resistance to accommodate retrofitted vehicles (even if ARAI & CMV compliant), its out of the reckoning for the first several years of a vehicle's use.

In my enquiries, they have been cagey about details like: does it work only on pedal braking or also on just deceleration, does it stop assisting the engine at higher speeds or only when the battery loses charge, etc. But they are responsive.