Hybrid passenger cars

Increasing fuel costs, emissions regulations and environmental responsibility amongst customers is driving demand for cost-effective hybrid solutions.

WHP's MLC flywheels offer hybrid passenger car makers fuel efficiency improvements and emissions reductions through excellent support of regenerative braking and allowing engine downsizing without performance reduction. Importantly these benefits can be achieved economically due to the low costs of volume manufacturing flywheels.

WHP is currently working with multiple car makers to bring flywheel based hybrid vehicles to market.

Hybrid buses and commercial vehicles

Similar factors to those in the passenger vehicle sector are prompting manufacturers of city buses and other commercial vehicles to pursue hybridisation.

City buses, refuse collection vehicles and delivery vehicles frequently accelerate and decelerate in the urban environment. This greatly increases the improvement in fuel efficiency and reduced emissions that result from adding regenerative braking capability - up to 50% in some cases. These vehicles typically operate for many hours each day magnifying the benefits when considered over the vehicle's life.

WHP's MLC flywheels have the ability to continuously cycle at high power which combined with their long life present a compelling hybridisation solution for such commercial vehicles.

Off-highway and construction vehicles

The use profile of many construction vehicles involves frequent acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle itself as well as auxiliary equipment (e.g. earth scoop, claw or load tray elevation). Electric hybridisation using WHP's MLC flywheel offers significant potential to increase the fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from vehicles in this sector.

The majority of large off-highway mining trucks employ a diesel electric drivetrain. Under braking substantial amounts of electricity is generated only to be converted into hot air via large resistor banks. Integration of WHP's MLC flywheels, which can accept the energy of these extremely high power braking events, is relatively straightforward as most of elements necessary for hybridisation already exist.

Electric trains, trams and monorails

Many electric rapid transit systems including metros, monorails and trams incorporate regenerative braking through the exchange of energy via the electrical infrastructure. The efficiency of such a system drops when there is a mismatch between regenerative braking energy and energy demand. The addition of WHP's flywheel as a high-power on-board energy buffer alleviates the problem boosting overall efficiency. This can also be achieved by the use of WHP's stationary flywheels connected trackside.

On-board flywheel energy storage can help rapid transit systems by allowing the vehicle to self-rescue to the nearest station in the event of an unplanned power cut or damage to a portion of the electrical infrastructure.

In a similar way, on-board flywheel energy storage can support partially electrified rapid transit and intercity rail networks. They do so by allowing vehicles to traverse un-electrified sections under their own power. Partial electrification may be required for example due to the infrastructure cost associated with particular parts of the route (bridges, tunnels and intersections) or aesthetic considerations (overhead lines for a tram across an intersection).