Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE:HEAT, OTCQB:HLRTF) has announced plans to deploy a comprehensive inverter technology platform based on its initial product offering, a high-efficiency silicon carbide traction inverter for electric vehicles (EVs).
Vancouver-based Hillcrest said its traction inverter represents a new class of inverter technology that solves many common challenges faced by today's EV powertrains.
Lighter, more compact, and more efficient than current inverters, it said the high-efficiency inverter enables reduced overall vehicle weight, increased payload, and range capability, and reduced heat production/loss, thereby optimizing performance and reliability.
READ: Hillcrest Energy reveals design specifications for first High Efficiency Inverter (HEI) commercial prototype
"We set out to be a market leader in developing and deploying next-generation energy solutions," chief technology officer Ari Berger said in a statement. "As technology-forward experts, we are uniquely positioned to execute to our vision and deliver high-efficiency inverter solutions that have the potential to revolutionize global electrification."
Berger said Hillcrest has already achieved inverter efficiencies exceeding 99% at switching frequencies up to 60 kilohertz (kHz) - enabling further efficiency enhancements in the overall system, such as electric motors.
“These accomplishments exceed any other inverter solutions we've seen on the market thus far,” he continued. “Moving forward, we will continue to strive for more groundbreaking improvements as we develop additional applications.”
In addition to EVs and the mobility industry, the company said the Hillcrest inverter technology platform can improve efficiency and reliability across a variety of end uses and applications where inverters play a key role, including grid-tied renewables, charging and storage systems, and high voltage/high power applications such as utility-scale grid, rail, and container ships.
"Based on the addressable markets and our technology development timeline we initially optimized our inverter design for vehicle electrification and other e-mobility uses," CEO Don Currie added. "Conversations with more than a dozen automakers and automotive suppliers have validated the value proposition for our inverter technology to meet not only current but future EV needs. We also recognized the value our inverter offers in numerous other high-potential applications beyond vehicle electrification and are hard at work on the development of a grid-connected power generation application with a commercial prototype planned within the next 12 months.”
Hillcrest noted that the adaptable architecture inherent in its technology greatly reduces the time needed to design a wide range of applications and allows technical integration of the high-efficiency inverter into nearly any platform. Accordingly, its engineers are simultaneously developing an enhanced electric powertrain and several additional inverter applications to be detailed as they mature.
Over the coming weeks, it said it expects to release its first technical whitepaper on the inverter technology. The first paper will include test results confirming the material elimination of switching losses and inverter efficiency exceeding 99%.
Hillcrest is transitioning from the production of fossil fuels from its West Hazel asset in Saskatchewan, to clean energy technologies that help unlock efficiencies in electrification and maximize the performance of electric systems including electric vehicles and grid-connected renewable energy systems.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com