Plug in, Turn On The Nicholson McLaren Citroen Nemo

Malcolm Bates has been waiting for a chance to test a new Lithium-Ion battery electric Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) for several months. But while he’s been waiting, he’s found another new electric vehicle to test drive. It’s smaller, but in many ways could have a larger impact on our industry... The standard diesel-fuelled Nemo is already an environmentally friendly option for council applications as it features the lowest emissions in class There are a couple of points to note before we explore the value of lithium-Ion battery powered light vans and trucks in a waste and recycling industry operating environment. Firstly, while Lithium-Ion battery packs have largely replaced the old style lead/acid traction battery, they do so at a cost. A pretty high cost. True, the cost of the actual ‘energy’ used, in terms of the electricity required to charge the packs is, compared to the cost of diesel, practically nothing. But the precious metal mining operations required for the manufacture of Lithium-Ion batteries have a negative impact on our environment and, in the same way that the nuclear lobby conveniently seeks to ‘bury’ the argument regarding safe disposal of spent nuclear materials, the disposal of Lithium-Ion batteries would rapidly become a major global issue if we all used them to power cars and light vans. It makes the point, nothing is ‘for nothing’. Yes, in addition to the diesel/electric hybrid solutions, prototypes of ‘full-sized’ - by which I mean 20-tonne plus gross weight - all-electric refuse collection vehicles using Lithium-Ion battery packs have been built, but it’s a fact that wherever you look in the waste collection, disposal and recycling sectors, there are probably more light trucks and vans under 5 tonnes gross in use, than there are vehicles above ten tonnes gross weight in service. So maybe we should look for environmental gains there? Close up of LPG injection system on the Citroen Dispatch conversion The statistics will vary, but if we assume a typical council (commune) operation in a small to medium-sized town has a fleet of 300 vehicles - at least a third are likely to be made up of vans and light trucks simply providing transport for supervisory staff. And as things currently stand, smaller vehicles are easier to convert to ‘alternative fuel’, than larger ones. There is a wider point - surely, the vehicles we use in the waste and recycling industry should be the best performers in environmental terms - in other words, the lowest polluters - as practically possible? This was the starting point for UK-based automotive design and production specialist Nicholson McLaren when developing a new generation of LPG and battery-electric systems. If you haven’t heard of the company before, I’m not surprised. At one time, cars, trucks, buses and agricultural tractors manufactured in the UK, were exported throughout the world. While putting together this annual WMW ‘Special’, one of the last remaining independent UK-based manufacturers of cars - Bristol - ceased production. Sadly, even Modec, the innovative manufacturer of electric light trucks and vans, has recently gone into administration due to a lack of volume orders following the banking crisis. But while there are no longer any volume vehicle producers based in the UK - other than assembly operations owned by General Motors, Honda or Nissan, that is - that doesn’t mean automotive design and technical innovation is dead. Quite the reverse in fact. Looking ahead For a start, several leading Formula 1 and international rallying teams are located in the UK. And specialist companies like Nicholson McLaren, involved in the rebuilding of historic race cars and even historic aircraft engines, are also UK-based. “Yes, managing historic restoration projects is certainly an important part of our business,” explains managing director John Waghorn, “but with our new generation LPG and Lithium-Ion battery vehicle projects, we are also involved with innovation as well.” To get a better understanding of the advances made in both LPG metering, as well as the battery electric vehicle management systems (BMS) now available, I recently had the opportunity to drive both an LPG-fuelled Citroen Dispatch van and a smaller 500kg payload all-electric Citroen Nemo. This was powered by a Lithium-Ion battery pack. Both options are also available on comparable Peugeot, or Fiat products and have a number of potential uses in both the waste and recycling sectors - and indeed, in wider council (commune) operations. It’s a gas Let’s look at LPG first. One of the added advantages of the Nicholson McLaren LPG system is that it retains petrol (gasoline) fuel for start-up and initial running, so if the gas supply does run out - as it tends to do on faster, long distance journeys - the vehicle can still return to base running on petrol. In the past, the downside of LPG conversions has been problems relating to heat build up and reliability of metering. The LPG-fuelled Citroen Dispatch van and all-electric Citroen Nemo could provide more economical and environmentally friendly transport fleets for councils I’m guessing here, but as a large part of Nicholson McLaren’s business involves precision engineering on race car engines - where failure would be a disaster - we can safely assume that reliability issues have been eliminated by applying the latest technology. The only downside to the more widespread adoption of LPG is that fewer vehicle manufacturers are listing petrol-fuelled light vans and trucks in their product line-ups, so base vehicle choice is increasingly limited. Stop-start solution? So what about the Lithium-Ion battery-powered Citroen Nemo? While it was difficult to detect whether the LPG-fuelled Dispatch was running on petrol or gas (it was slightly quieter on gas), with the electric Nemo, it was obvious this was no diesel, petrol or LPG-fuelled van. Forget ‘stop-start’ technology on internal combustion engines - the ideal ‘stop-start’ solution to reduced carbon emissions in crowded urban environments has to be an electrical switch. When stationary in traffic, the Nemo was completely quiet, apart from a ‘hum’ from the control system. Moving off again was seamless. And the speed in drive mode? Well, that’s when things really ‘light up’ - the performance of this little van is more than acceptable as an alternative to a conventional diesel, or petrol-fuelled van. Because, unlike some systems on the market, the Nicholson McLaren conversion has a ‘tuneable’ regenerative braking facility which, while it doesn’t actually equate to ‘perpetual motion’ - that’s technically impossible - it can be ‘tuned’ to return the optimum percentage of energy scrubbed-off under heavy braking. Or it can be set-up to give greater ‘freewheel’ (coasting) capability if preferred. Although my test drive was limited by time constraints, it was clear that a good percentage of the energy, that would be otherwise lost as a result of a faster driving and harder braking style, could be fed back into the battery packs. The key to the success is to be found in the new, advanced Battery Management System. I was driving with a 40% ‘Regen’ setting - which gave a reassuring ‘engine braking’ effect. An increase to the setting would reduce the need to use service brakes in more hilly districts, while a lower setting would probably be best in a totally flat country, such as Holland. The big issues The bottom line? All ‘alternative fuelled’ vehicles tend to have poorer residual values. But on the other hand, conversions to existing IC-engined products at least ensures that the latest standards in safety and driver ergonomics and comfort are attained - this can’t really be said for specially-produced, low-volume electric vehicles. Driver experience, safety and comfort standards on the Nemo are already high - underlining the advantages of starting with a mass-produced design That leaves the two big issues until last. Cost and range. As a guide, you’ll need to budget on double the price of an IC-engined van, when it comes to specifying Lithium-Ion battery power. And work on longer fuelling times with LPG fuelled vehicles. Both options have a considerably-reduced range when compared to diesel-fuelled vehicles too. For example, a diesel-fuelled Nemo has a range of 500 miles (800 km) on one tankfull. But the 80 mile (130 km) range quoted for the all-electric Nicholson McLaren-converted Nemo could still be enough for operations in an urban area. Especially as a plug-in charger can give quick ‘top-up’ charges when the vehicle is parked up during the shift. While we wait for hydrogen fuel cell technology to be productionised - which may, or may not happen any year soon - Nicholson McLaren designers have been looking for ways to ensure a battery electric vehicle doesn’t just grind to a halt when the driver gets caught away from base with a spent battery pack. “We’re looking at the provision of an auxiliary plug-in pack like the engine start packs sold by automotive parts retailers,” John Waghorn explained, “but we’re also looking at a small IC auxiliary engine which could provide a ‘get-you-home’ facility at reduced speed. “Our research suggests it need only be the size of a 5hp lawnmower engine in order to generate enough current and of course it could be used to charge the battery packs when moving on the highway, returning to battery-only mode in heavily trafficked urban areas,” he adds. And guess what, the small auxiliary engine could be fuelled by LPG! It might sound bizarre, but it does make operational sense. The principal of a small engine powering a generator is at the heart of most ‘hybrid’ solutions, after all. The future? Nicholson McLaren is now looking for global partners with a view to productionising its alternative fuel conversion packages for wider global markets. Malcolm Bates is the plant, collection and transport correspondent for Waste Management World.email: malcolm@automotivespecialists.co.uk More Waste Management World Articles Waste Management World Issue Archives