Torotrak wins £1.1m funding for JCB project

LANCASHIRE engineering business Torotrak has been awarded £1.1m in funding from the Technology Strategy Board for an excavator vehicle project in collaboration with JCB.

Torotrak, a developer of gearless traction drive technology, will use the cash to develop its Flybrid technology for an excavator application,  as part of £7.3m conosortium project on an off-highway vehicle project for JCB.

The 30-month project will start in mid-2014, focussing on maximising the efficiency of an excavator by modifying its hydraulic power delivery system and using mechanical energy recovery technology to significantly reduce fuel consumption and total CO2 emissions for JCB’s future excavator products.

In total the consortium will receive an anticipated £3.3m in funding from the Technology Strategy Board through its Advanced Propulsion Centre initiative, which is designed to advance the development and manufacture of new, low carbon vehicle technologies in the UK.

Torotrak said mechanical energy storage technology is ideally suited to off-highway applications, and will offer a cost-effective way to reduce emissions and fuel consumption in heavy duty-cycle vehicles such as excavators.

It already has experience win this area for on-highway commercial vehicle operators, developed through the Flybrid-Wrightbus programme, which is due to see flywheel-KERS buses on the road this year and said the new project will allow it to utilise this knowledge in a new market.

Jeremy Deering, Torotrak’s chief executive said: “Torotrak is delighted to be working with off-highway equipment market leader, JCB. This project further underlines the broad range of applications for our Flybrid KERS technology, particularly in proving its value in demanding environments and harsh duty cycle applications.”

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