PROFILE
Solar powered Club Car fleet by Ingersoll Rand
“ Our customers continue to look to us to solve one of their big issues , which continues to be energy use and energy productivity ”
– Scott Tew
Ingersoll Rand is currently the world ’ s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles , with production of its offroad recreational ‘ Club Car ’ outdoing all other EV producers by production volume . In this spirit , the company has also sought to make alterations to their larger-scale transport ventures .
Large freight trucks waste a lot of time and fuel idling while being loaded or unloaded . At the same time , fuel-dependent temperature control systems are also working to keep perishable commodities cool . Engineers at Ingersoll Rand worked to remedy these inefficiencies through the creation of an all-electric auxiliary power unit ( APU ) which charges as a freight truck moves .
“ APU ’ s have the ability to reduce fuel use by up to 90 percent ,” Tew reports . “ This auxiliary power unit can provide comfort for the driver and can also power the refrigeration units for the perishables in the back without having the tractor on .”
“ When the tractor is idle the APU then kicks in and provides the power . There are tremendous energy savings , but there are also tremendous emissions savings .”
As many businesses increase their ‘ green ’ offerings , consumers may wonder if they ’ re sacrificing performance or productivity for the sake of energy efficiency . Tew believes this doesn ’ t have to be the case .
“ Can we actually do things in the future that use less energy and we still have no trade-offs ?” he asks . “ We can
10 August 2016