Converting diesel to battery electric with a complete cooling loop.

A complete EV cooling loop was required from Technical Services to convert a road sweeper from diesel to battery electric.

The Quattro Plant Ltd, one of the UK’s leading cross-sector plant hire organisations, is committed to reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. This includes the retrofit of existing vehicles to be cleaner and greener.

The design of a complete EV cooling system

Quattro Plant’s in-house R&D department initially contacted Technical Services as a component provider for the cooling loop. This opened the opportunity for Technical Services to share their expertise in the design of complete cooling systems and to work in collaboration with Quattro Plant’s R&D team on the wider cooling loop.

By working at a system level, with collaboration from both engineering teams, Technical Services were able to understand more about the application. One of the main drivers was the cooling loop needed to work with non-conductive dielectric coolant. Technical Services achieved this by integrating a range of premium components that have been subjected to enhanced durability testing, specifically with dielectric coolants. Careful application engineering was needed due to the wide changes in coolant viscosity when using a dielectric oil vs, a Glycol based coolant.

The cooling system schematics and CAD drawings, defining the architecture and component selection for the cooling loop was approved. For ease of installation the complete cooling loop was supplied to Quattro Plant with semi-constructed sections and components to speed up installation.

Technical Services collaborated closely with the engineers throughout the project including the installation process.

Successful retrofit of commercial vehicle to battery electric

The cooling loop was easily installed and provided the required solution enabling the engineers to successfully convert the road sweeper vehicle to battery electric. Working at a system level enabled Technical Services to provide the most efficient and durable solution for the application.

Retrofitting the vehicle proved to be a cost-effective and efficient way of upgrading the road sweeper to be compliant with Clean Air Zones and Ultra Low Emission Zones where charges apply for diesel vehicles. Testing and validation of the vehicle has been carried out with excellent results and positive feedback from drivers.

Are you converting a diesel vehicle to battery electric and need a complete cooling loop? Please get in touch.