Range Energy announces two partners to electrify refrigerated trailers
Range Energy, a company which builds large-battery electric trailers to help fleets electrify at the drop of a hat, has announced partnerships with Thermo King and ESL Power Systems to bring its technology to refrigerated trailer units.
The idea behind Range’s product is that it adds a battery and an electric motor e-axle to a semi truck trailer, instead of to the tractor itself, which means that a fleet can add electric capabilities without having to buy new tractors. This means the fleet can effectively hybridize its operation without having to buy new tractors.
While this isn’t a fully electric solution, it can still reduce fuel usage by a large amount (independent tests say 36%), and adds new capabilities to a truck – like better control over the trailer and regenerative braking to avoid brake fade.
We met Range at ACT Expo in Anaheim two years ago, where they gave us one of the coolest demos we’ve seen. Just by attaching to a tractor’s kingpin, the system can decide how much power to apply and offers extremely natural feeling movement, making a heavy trailer feel light as a feather:
Range isn’t quite up to production yet, but they have done some trials. In addition to the independent testing above, Range trialed its technology with Petaluma Egg Farm, up in Northern California, where it says the company saw a 50-70% improvement in MPG for the trucks using Range’s electric trailer.
But the company is still working to find novel applications for its technology, and when we caught up with them at ACT Expo this week, they wanted to focus on how Range trailers could be used for refrigerated freight in order to cut emissions and reduce the need for a separate engine to run the reefer unit.
In service of this, it has partnered with two companies in the refrigeration space – Thermo King, the biggest name in electrified trucks, and ESL Power Systems, a company that manufactures shore power solutions for heavy industry.
Range said Thermo King came to them because they’re the only company with enough energy storage to be able to run a refrigerated unit for an extended period of time. While there are other companies doing electrified refrigerated trailers, Range’s trailer has a much larger 288kWh battery (since it also works as a traction battery for the trailer’s electric motor).
This means it has a lot more energy on board to run a refrigeration unit, which can draw ~5-20kW depending on several factors. Range told us that fleets have told them this would be enough energy to keep the trailer box cold for a full day while unplugged from shore power, even in hot temperatures.
And that’s a big deal, because heretofore, refrigerated units have mostly run with an additional small diesel engine. Removing that engine means less pollution, less diesel usage, more noise, less maintenance, and it also means the refrigerated unit could operate in more environments (for example, you don’t want a running engine indoors if you can avoid it – but an electric unit doesn’t have to deal with that).
Speaking of shore power, that’s what Range is working with ESL to implement. ESL creates small, modular shore power systems which are easier to install, helping fleets save on infrastructure upgrade costs. Their boxes can deliver high-powered 480V 3-phase AC charging.
Plugging into one of these would allow the Range Energy trailer to charge at up to 50kW or so, meaning a 5-6 hour charge time for the 288kWh battery.
Range has already trialed its partnership with Thermo King, in the Petaluma Egg Farm example given above. Although the ESL partnership is newer, and those will be trialed soon.
Range is targeting the end of this year, or possibly the start of next year, for its first customer deliveries.
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Slate Auto, a new EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, has poached a key Tesla manufacturing leader to build its electric pickup truck factory in Indiana.
Napoleon Reyes is a US Marine from Indiana who got a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue after leaving the force.
He then worked a few years at Subaru and Wabash before joining Tesla’s manufacturing team at the Fremont Factory in 2020.
There, he became part of the Model Y production ramp and was quickly promoted to lead the Model Y General Assembly in Fremont in 2022.
Reyes led Model Y GA, one of the most critical parts of vehicle manufacturing, for more than a year before being promoted again to lead new pilot processes at the factory.
Most recently, he led the launch of the general assembly line for the Model Y refresh.
The new engineering manager announced this week that he is leaving Tesla to join Slate:
A bit late on the post but after nearly 5 years working at Tesla in Fremont, I made the difficult decision to leave the Company and move closer to home with my family. It was an incredible experience being part of multiple line expansions and multiple Model Y program launches. Leading and managing the Model Y Refresh launch for GA in Fremont this year tested me professionally however we ultimately succeeded due to our amazing cross functional team collaboration. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with such great people, and I will forever be proud and thankful for everything we accomplished together.
I will be taking on a new role as Senior Manager, Plant Vehicle Engineering at Slate Auto in Warsaw, In.
Slate emerged from stealth mode earlier this year to unveil a new type of electric pickup truck featuring modular customization and an affordable price.
The company raised over $700 million through two rounds of investments from several different investors, including Jeff Bezos. It is currently raising more, which basically guarantees that it will be able to reach production.
The startup acquired a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana. It is currently converting to manufacture its electric pickup with a team from legacy automakers and also several former engineers and leaders from Tesla.
Rich Schmidt, an early Tesla manufacturing director, is the head of manufacturing.
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Genesis is preparing to shake things up with its most luxurious SUV yet, the GV90. Thanks to a new patent filing, we are getting a detailed look at how its Rolls-Royce-style coach doors will work.
New patent reveals Genesis GV90 coach door system
When Genesis first unveiled the full-size SUV at the NY Auto Show last March, it wasn’t the stunning design or advanced tech that caught everyone’s attention. It was the coach doors.
Although we were worried it wouldn’t make it to the production model, like many concepts, the Genesis GV90 will be offered with coach doors.
The ultra-luxe electric SUV was first caught with coach doors earlier this year on a car carrier in South Korea. Just last month, the GV90 was spotted in California with a hinge at the rear to open the coach doors.
After several new patents were filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for new door latching devices, we are getting a sneak peek at how they are expected to work.
The patents, titled “Cinching Device For Door Latches in Vehicle,” and “Door Latch Device for Vehicles,” give a pretty detailed explanation of how the Genesis GV90’s coach doors will operate. The “Door Latch Device” uses a door striker on the lower side of the door, which is opened or closed by a hinge unit.
Unlike traditional doors, which use the B-pillar for support, the device is attached directly to the door itself, allowing for hinge-like movement.
The cinching device works in a similar way. It’s also attached to the door and part of the vehicle. However, unlike most of its kind, Genesis found a way to use a single cinching device to control multiple units. Again, the device is used for B-pillarless doors that swing open.
Genesis already said that B-pillarless coach doors are now feasible in production vehicles. The patent reveals a glimpse into how the luxury automaker could make it a reality.
Although the Genesis GV90 is expected to be offered with coach doors, they will likely not be standard. Other variants, with traditional door handles, have also been spotted testing in the US and South Korea.
Genesis is expected to launch the GV90 in mid-2026. It will be built at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea. The flagship Genesis SUV is scheduled to debut on Hyundai’s new eM platform, which the company said will “provide 50% improvement in driving range.” It will also be loaded with the latest technology, software, connectivity, and Level 3 or higher autonomous driving capabilities.
Source: USPTO
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Environment
Podcast: Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the launch of the Tesla Model YL, more Tesla probes and lawsuits, new Nissan Leaf pricing, and more.
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