Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE:HEAT, OTCQB:HLRTF), which has completed initial internal testing of its high-efficiency inverter with an electric motor, said it has achieved “impressive motor efficiency” gains.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based clean technology company developing transformative power conversion technologies, said it will release the results in an upcoming whitepaper on April 21, 2022.
Internal tests revealed previously have already confirmed the ability of the Hillcrest inverter technology to achieve efficiencies exceeding 99% at switching frequencies up to 60 kilohertz (kHz).
The company said new tests were performed using the 10kW Hillcrest high-efficiency inverter proof of concept on an 80kW electric motor currently used in electric vehicle (EV) powertrain applications. After running efficiency tests on the motor to establish a performance baseline at the 10kHz switching frequency, the same tests were run at 20kHz, 40kHz and 60kHz.
Results showed motor efficiency improvements at each increased switching frequency level, confirming the ability of the Hillcrest technology to leverage higher switching frequencies without generating additional heat, thereby allowing the electric motor to work at higher efficiency levels, noted the company.
“Currently, electric motors used in electric vehicle powertrains operate within a switching frequency range of 8kHz to 16kHz due to the historic tradeoff between the best possible switching behavior and acceptable thermal losses,” Harald Hengstenberger, managing director and founder of Systematec GmbH, a strategic partner to Hillcrest, said in a statement.
“The ability of the Hillcrest high-efficiency inverter to operate at much higher switching frequencies without generating additional losses will now allow motor manufacturers to take advantage of new motor concepts not previously available to them,” he added.
Leveraging the Hillcrest traction inverter to improve motor efficiency in an electric vehicle powertrain has the potential to reduce motor size and cooling requirements and increases power density, said the company. In an electric vehicle, this can result in more power, more payload capability and increased range, it added.
“We are thrilled to see these initial tests not only validate but exceed our expectations in demonstrating the ability of the Hillcrest traction inverter to increase the efficiency in electric vehicle and motor applications,” said Hillcrest Energy Technologies (CSE:HEAT, OTCQB:HLRTF) CTO Ari Berger. “Combined with our existing test results confirming inverter efficiency exceeding 99% at switching frequencies up to 60 kHz, we are one step closer to demonstrating the ability of our technology to anchor the next generation of highly efficient, high-performance powertrain systems.”
The successful tests completed thus far with the Hillcrest proof-of-concept are the first steps in the commercialization testing protocol. Testing of the Hillcrest 250kW 800V commercial prototype inverter will start in the coming months, said the company with delivery of a “working prototype expected this fall.”
While this specific testing demonstrates Hillcrest’s efficiency targets in the EV powertrain application, the results indicate similar potential for other target applications, such as grid-tied renewables, charging and storage systems, and other high voltage/high power applications. Future testing will be tailored to these additional applications, said the company.
The technical whitepaper detailing Hillcrest’s inverter testing will be available on the company’s website on April 21.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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