Vancouver’s Loop Energy partners with Chinese heavy-duty truck drivetrain company

Loop Energy, a Vancouver company that provides zero-emission power systems for heavy-duty transport, has announced a collaboration agreement with Hunan CRRC Times Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of CRRC Corporation Ltd.), to develop a project that will help the Chinese company’s electric drivetrain system to provide a better performing solution than traditional diesel engines for heavy-duty trucks.

“This agreement with Hunan CRRC Times Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. is a key step on our commercialization path,” said Loop Energy President Ben Nyland. “CRRC’s deep experience with electric drivetrains and components, combined with their ability to rapidly scale production, align perfectly with our deployment plans. End customers will benefit from this collaboration as we lead the path to a variety of economical, zero-emission vehicle solutions.”

In February, Loop Energy changed its name from Power Disc Development Corp. and announced that its goal was to replace the diesel engine with their Loop heavy-duty powertrain, designed around the company’s patented eFlow technology which combines an electric battery with a hydrogen fuel cell and produces only water vapour as exhaust.

“We see a world where we no longer have to burn oil to move things,” said Nyland at that time. “A world where we create the power we need by working with natural cycles.”

In March, Loop Energy picked up a C$7.5 million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to help develop that technology.

Hunan CRRC Times Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. has produced over 20,000 units of powertrains and more than 10,000 units of electric vehicles.

“We believe fuel cell electric drive systems are the ultimate solution for new energy vehicles,” said Guo Wei, Vice General Manager of Hunan CRRC Times Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. “We chose to partner with Loop Energy because their approach provides a clear path to driving down the cost of zero-emission transportation and to making zero-emission transportation commercially viable.”

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of CRRC Corporation Ltd., the largest supplier of rail transit equipment in the world, which has annual revenue of over $40 billion and 45 other wholly owned and majority owned subsidiary companies.

Headquartered in Beijing, CRRC has over 175,000 employees and greater than 90% market share in the Chinese marketplace for its products, which include electric multiple unit trains, urban transit vehicles, engineering machinery, electronic equipment and parts, and environmental protection equipment, among other things.

About The Author / Terry Dawes

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One thought on “Vancouver’s Loop Energy partners with Chinese heavy-duty truck drivetrain company”

Kyler Brown says:

May 9, 2016 at 7:19 am

This would definitely seem like a good merger. I liked what Nyland had to say about how they see the world where we no longer have to burn oil to move things. It will be interesting to see how we figure out how to use natural cycles instead of oil. Thanks for sharing this article. http://www.kirbyhiablogistics.com.au

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