Janus Electric Exchangable Powerplant Truck for BTS
Rob McKay | ATN
APR. 22, 2021
Exchangeable battery-electric truck firm Janus Electric reveals its prototype vehicle will appear at the Brisbane Truck Show.
Exchangeable battery-electric truck firm Janus Electric reveals its prototype vehicle will appear at the Brisbane Truck Show.
Claiming world first patented technology, the Janus’ truck is an electric-converted Kenworth T403.
Developed by professional engineers led by co-founder Bevan Dooley and transport operators, Janus batteries aim to remove the need for heavy electric vehicles to plug in and charge for 12 hours.
Instead, the revolutionary solution can be swapped out in three minutes with a fully charged battery ready to go, thereby increasing vehicle utilisation and all but eliminating downtime.
Janus Electric general manager Lex Forsyth believes the exchangeable battery is a game changer for the transport industry globally.
"The fact it’s exchangeable and can be done in three minutes at one of the charge stations located initially at key locations along the east coast from Brisbane to Sydney is world class," Forsyth tells ATN.
"Janus Electric has solved the scale, price-point and battery technology challenge for conversion to electric.
"We want to lead the transition to electric heavy vehicle road transport in Australia, and we want Australian businesses to be at the forefront of this next phase of road transport globally."
This is just one truck of the BTS range. Read about others, here
Janus Electric sees the technology as having the potential for a huge positive impact on the global environmental footprint, not least due to the flexibility of powering it up.
"It features a battery that can be charged utilising renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro," Forsyth says.
"Janus batteries can be charged when and where it makes sense both environmentally with renewable energy and economically when the electrical grid is not in high demand."
The new technology is seen as a significant boon for a transport industry looking to convert from diesel to electric.
Existing fleets can now be converted to electric drive for the same cost as refurbishing a diesel engine, the company nots.
Forsyth adds that it takes less than a week for Janus to convert any existing heavy duty prime mover into an electric vehicle.
"This means fleet operators can cost-effectively undertake mass electrification of their entire fleet for the same cost of re-working a diesel engine," he says.
"There are substantial cost savings to fleet electrification.
"The Janus solution can deliver up to a 30 per cent reduction in maintenance and operating costs.
"There are positive benefits for the drivers fatigue management and overall health and well-being with the Janus conversion from diesel to electric through the reduction of vibration, noise and harmful fumes.
"Janus is a technology-led business with a smart solution that will benefit everyone within the transport ecosystem from governments to large scale fleet operators, individual owner drivers and renewable energy providers."