Automotive Engineering - January/February 2021 - 27

TESTING FEATURE

The facility's
emissions-test
equipment, sourced
from AVL, is expected
to get plenty of use in
the next few years.

because our customers' time is money, " Proctor said. " We have about
a seven-minute window to move vehicles from the soak areas into
our test dynos to meet specifications. Once it's within the test cell,
the hookup time is within 30 minutes. " Proctor has plans to bring the
VET's techs to Indy's famous Motor Speedway to study racing pit
stops and benchmark best practices.

ALLISON TRANSMISSION

EV testing expands
With combustion engines expected to evolve and remain as primemovers for decades, including in hybrid vehicles - and tighter emission standards facing OEMs in the form of the Phase-2 regs through
model year 2027 - the Allison VET team is preparing for steady business in emissions testing this decade. As the executives noted, however, electrification and testing electrified vehicles are steadily growing priorities. Proctor showed one of the VET's major assets in this
area: the AV900.
Made by AeroVironment, the AV900 is a multi-use, programmable device designed to serve as a battery emulator. It is a workhorse for testing and emulating energy storage and drivetrain components of large hybrids and EVs, including trucks, buses and military vehicles. Allison Transmission owns " a number " of AV900s,
with two currently located at the VET. One is mounted on wheels
for portability. Both are used for battery charging and for delivering
a constant power supply.
" Our E-Axle development team wanted to test on one of our dynos, " Proctor shared. " They can run 30 minutes to one hour on the
road, then they have to shut the electric vehicle down to charge the
battery. This is where the battery emulator really helped save time.
The team tested here; we were able to reduce their downtime by 40
percent by eliminating their charging. We ran that vehicle for six
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING

hours continuous, at 70-mph, on our dyno with no
problem. Those are the types of advantages we can
provide our customers. "
With EVs, the industry is heading to higher voltages
and higher kilowatt-hour requirements for more efficiency. Each of the VET's AV900s are capable of generating 250 kW and can be combined in parallel to
deliver 500 kW, either on the dynos or in another test.
" Moving forward, we see the need for more capability
with hybrids and EVs, " Proctor said. " We can provide
DC power for EVs in any configuration needed, to allow them to run continuous, making the batteries'
charge virtually infinite. That eliminates time and cost
in design and testing. "
And although hydrogen-fueled propulsion systems
weren't in the original VET plan, they are quickly entering the picture, " Stamper said. " EV will be a growing business for us, with the 'E' coming from a variety
of sources. Hydrogen capability is not here at VET today, but it's coming to fruition sooner than later. We're
exploring a bulk hydrogen-feed system into the test
facilities to provide, like we do with EVs, a continuous
fueling capability. "
Still in its nascent stages, Allison Transmissions'
unique VET already is shaping up to be a vanguard
testing facility in North America.
For more information, go to
https://www.allisontransmission.com/company/vet,
and highlight the RFQ tab. Contact Brad Stamper,
Customer Program Manager, at 812-343-1692;
brad.stamper@allisontransmission.com.
January/February 2021 27

https://www.allisontransmission.com/company/vet

Automotive Engineering - January/February 2021

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