Line Drive Bucher Leans into the E-Mobility Market By Michael Pyper for Bucher Hydraulics
An e-truck electrified with Bucher’s MOBILE platform.
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bout a year ago, the Swiss group Bucher Industries acquired the Mobile Drives division of the Lenze group. Based in Romanshorn, Switzerland, the specialist in frequency inverters and DC/DC converters for commer- Modular system The inverters and DC/DC converters supply electrical auxiliary drives such cial vehicles has been integrated into Bucher Hydraulics, which already provides hydraulic drive expertise within the group. The company now as air compressors, pumps, or compressors. Combined devices also convert sees itself as being ideally equipped for the electric mobility of the future. the voltage of the traction battery into the 12 or 24 VDC voltage required for "The world needs to decarbonize to tackle climate change. That's why the vehicle's onboard electrical system. With a maximum input voltage of the future of mobility is electric," said Andreas Schnurrenberger, head of 848, units are already equipped for future 800 VDC fast-charging stations. The modular principle makes it possible to meet vehicle manufacsales and product management for electrohydraulic systems and mobile drives. The acquisition of Mobile Drives and its integration into Bucher turers' individual requirements with customized software but largely standardized hardware. The compact, standardHydraulics has significantly strengthened the ized housings significantly increase the long-term division's position as a supplier and partner availability of spare parts and reduce their variety in the e-mobility market, benefiting manufacin production and customer service. turers of buses, trucks, and mobile machines. "After all, e-buses have now been in service for The business acquired by Bucher Industries up to 20 years," Schnurrenberger said. is a pioneer in electromobility. Founded in In buses and trucks, every cubic centimeter of 1989 by a handful of idealists, some of whom installation space is at a premium. That is why the are still onboard today, it means that Bucher Typical auxiliary drives in a city bus. product portfolio includes double inverters that can Hydraulics now has unique expertise in the field of multi-inverters and DC/DC converters for electrically powered supply two actuators from just one housing, which saves on space and costs. commercial vehicles. As early as 1995, an electric traction drive with an integrated vehicle charger was developed. Over the years, project business ‘Powered by hydraulics’ The know-how acquired in the field of commercial vehicles can be in the bus and truck sector has resulted in important requirements for transferred to mobile machines. Here, too, electric drives with batteries the current platform, called MOBILE, which can implement a wide range or fuel cells are increasingly replacing fossil-fuel diesel engines. The work of drive solutions quickly and easily. Since 2014, Mobile Drives has been functions are still commonly powered by hydraulics, which combine supplying customers in the automotive industry with products tried and high forces with maximum ruggedness and low space requirements. As tested in large-scale production, together with ECE E1 approvals from a provider of innovative hydraulic drives, Bucher Hydraulics is developGermany's Federal Motor Transport Authority. ing electrohydraulic solutions to make mobile machines more efficient, A comparison with inverters from the industrial sector shows how quieter, and longer lasting. This also results in solutions with enormous essential experience is, especially in the mobility sector. energy savings by means of recuperation. "While such components fail after a very short time on test benches "The Mobile Drives business segment,” Schnurrenberger said, “is comthat simulate the environment, the Mobile Drives products easily withmitted to efficiently and reliably converting energy for electrically powered stand the specified load cycles," Schnurrenberger said, not least because vehicles such as e-buses, e-trucks, and mobile e-machines. We are therefore a new product has to fulfill several hundred qualification tests before it ideally positioned to deliver the drive solutions of the future." • goes into series production.
An air conditioning application.
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January 2023
An air compressor application.
A steering application. WWW.FLUIDPOWERJOURNAL.COM • WWW.IFPS.ORG
