A local nanotechnology firm has developed a powertrain with the potential to shake up the electric vehicle industry
ELECTRIC vehicles (EV) will be one of the main modes of transportation in the near future, with companies such as Tesla, Nissan and Mitsubishi already producing these cars, albeit on a small scale.
According to Allied Market Research, the global electric vehicle market was valued at US$162.34 billion in 2019. It is projected to reach US$802.81 billion by 2027, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.6 per cent.
Asean represents 20 per cent of the global automotive market.
This is a very lucrative market and one local technology outfit, NanoMalaysia, wants a chunk of the pie by developing an important component of the EV, the powertrain.
HYPER POWER
NanoMalaysia believes Malaysia can be a significant player in the EV industry and a step in that direction is the development of a powertrain that does not totally depend on electric charging stations.
According to chief executive officer Dr Rezal Khairi Ahmad, building a unique and affordable powertrain for electric vehicles using local talent is a novel solution to the chicken-and-egg conundrum.
After all, in activating an accessible domestic market for EVs, the long-standing debate is always on which should come first: sufficient EVs on the road or a nationwide charging infrastructure?
Rezal came up with the idea to develop the HyPER powertrain in mid-2019, inspired by the company's hydrogen-powered drone and hybrid energy storage system projects.
In tackling the EV market, he said Malaysia needed to play a different game.
"To avoid repeating the same mere assembly game, our focus should be on development and commercialisation of technologies relevant to the EV industry," said Rezal.
Such technologies may come at the components and systems level in the form of high-performance energy storage, including batteries, ultracapacitors and even solid hydrogen cartridges, battery management systems and Internet of Nano Things Monitoring System (IoNT-MS).
HOW THE POWERTRAIN WORKS
While the general public may assume the HyPER powertrain is under the Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) category, Rezal said this is inaccurate, explaining that the system is a combination of batteries, ultracapacitors and fuel cell with an on-board hydrogen reactor.
"The batteries provide standard energy storage and driving range observed in
typical EVs, while ultracapacitors with their high power density provide a fast discharge of electricity to the motor akin to an electrical 'turbo boost' for improved acceleration.
"The on-board reactor, coupled with the fuel cell, produces hydrogen through a process called hydrolysis which simply means a chemical reaction in the presence of water.
"Hydrogen is converted into electric current by the fuel cell which then directly drives the motor or charges the batteries and ultracapacitors," explained Rezal.
HyPER was conceived with the end in mind, that is, actual market deployment in the automotive and transportation sectors.
Rezal said the concept of generating hydrogen and immediate conversion into electrical energy removes the dependency on the grid-based electricity-charging and the hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure.
"The hydrogen on-the-go reactor is a completely bottom-up design and represents our unique value proposition in the EV sector," he said.
THE CONCEPT CAR
Currently, the HyPER prototype powertrain is powering a Caterham Roadster.
"HyPER's current design is intentionally vintage and sporty to address multiple potential market segments, for instance, EV retrofit for existing cars, motorsports and actual road-going EVs.
"The Caterham Roadster is one of our favourites but the end-user version will come in many shapes and forms as per market demand," said Rezal.
The energy capacity of the HyPER powertrain at 20kW is comparable to Nissan Leaf's 30kW as it is just half the vehicular weight. Thus it possesses a power-to-weight ratio advantage and provides scalability insight to automotive sector players for possible adoption and market deployment.
"The hydrogen reactor simply relies on availability of a clean water supply to generate hydrogen which provides electricity on-the-go to charge the batteries and ultracapacitors. With this, the dependency on charging stations is greatly reduced," he said.
FUTURE PLANS
NanoMalaysia is looking at aggressively pushing the HyPER powertrain to be commercially and industrially adopted by regional EV players, which in turn, will catalyse the growth of Malaysia's EV market.
Rezal also said that while the HyPER powertrain is an exciting development, NanoMalaysia is already embarking on a next-generation energy storage system with the aim of ensuring sustainable growth in this niche sector.