New Industry Products

AeroVironment Delivers Near-Megawatt Scale Electric Vehicle Test System To Department of Defense

August 03, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) delivered its first AV-800 , a high-power, heavy-duty, near-megawatt scale electric vehicle (EV) test system to the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren, Michigan for advanced vehicle testing.

The AV-800 will be a part of the new TARDEC Ground System Power and Energy Laboratory (GSPEL), where the first-of-its-kind equipment will conduct critical testing needed for the advancement of ground system electric transportation technologies to support and protect today’s warfighter.

The 800 kilowatt single and dual-channel power processor is the latest and highest power system in AV’s line of electric vehicle test systems. It is a bi-directional unit capable of returning energy back to the electrical grid at more than 90% efficiency, and a key component of the GSPEL as TARDEC seeks to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

"As America’s laboratory for advanced military automotive technology, TARDEC is at the forefront of developing tomorrow’s automotive solutions," said Michael Bissonette, Senior Vice President and General Manager, AV Efficient Energy Systems. "AeroVironment is pleased to continue our longstanding relationship with TARDEC with the delivery of our first near-megawatt scale power processor, the AV-800. This new system will enable the development of high-powered electric automotive solutions, representing a significant new capability for TARDEC and for the electric transportation industry."

The AV-800 is designed to support the development of systems such as large hybrid electric vehicles, high power energy storage systems, power generation equipment, drivetrains, and electrical components. The new system can also perform hardware in the loop testing and parallel component and system development.

"The AV-800, along with our proven product line of EV test systems, represents a reliable and efficient solution for advanced automotive and electric system development," Bissonette said.

As the highest powered system in AV’s broad line of electric vehicle test systems, the AV-800 is designed for testing large hybrid vehicles, such as buses, trucks, military vehicles, construction equipment, airport ground support equipment and locomotives. The AV-800 is capable of performing a variety of rigorous testing and simulation functions critical to moving new electric technologies to reality. These capabilities include charge and discharge cycling as well as performance simulation for battery cells, battery packs, fuel cells and ultracapacitors.