WeTruck: Portuguese technology to save fuel on refrigerated trucks
Portugal
Result of an academic work in collaboration with a transport company, the WeTruck project led to the creation of AddVolt, a StartUp idealized by four young engineers with a Masters in Electrotechnical Engineering by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. This solution allows for greater fuel savings, lower greenhouse gas emissions and a significant noise reduction in the fleets of transport and logistics companies of refrigerated products.
Bruno Azevedo, CEO of Addvolt, tells Transportes in Revista that the idea of ??creating this project arose "following the master's thesis on regenerative braking systems applied to heavy vehicles". The idea began to take shape with a close relationship with a national transport company in which "the great enthusiasm and commitment of the respective collaborators who have been accompanying us contributed, and much, to face this challenge with enormous responsibility", reveals the responsible . The team currently has six professionals fully dedicated to the development of the solution, which is expected to begin commercialization in the middle of 2016. According to Bruno Azevedo, "we are now moving forward with the certification process and homologation at national and international level. We have already contacted the IMT for this purpose, and the technological principle of the project is already concluded. "
But what, after all, is WeTruck?
It is a system that allows to directly feed the auxiliary systems of a truck without using the diesel engine. The energy production is done in two ways: through photovoltaic panels that are installed at the top of the truck and through a system of energy recovery during braking and deceleration. The generated electric energy is stored in batteries and later can be used to power the auxiliary systems of the vehicle itself. This is only possible by managing the flow of energy between the various resources that is done automatically and autonomously by the controller, a combination of hardware and software fully developed by Addvolt, which is the key solution technology.
One of the great advantages is, according to Bruno Azevedo, "to be a non-invasive technology. It is a kit that can be installed on any lorry, at various stages of its life, ie it can be installed at the time of manufacture or at a later stage.
