DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. — If only electric propulsion could operate at low voltage, maximize the motor’s performance and do without the cumbersome array of batteries. That’s the proposition advanced by KLD Energy Technologies of Austin, Tex., which suggests that it has come up with the next great innovation in electric-vehicle powertrains.
Kicking off a Southern California media tour to showcase the oneDrive system the company introduced in June, Christian Okonsky, KLD’s founder and chief executive, and Ray Caamano, its chief scientific officer, expressed high expectations for the company, which is named for Mr. Okonsky’s sons, Keil, Luke and Dean. To demonstrate what KLD is capable of, the two men brought along three vehicles fitted with one Drive: a scooter, a small utility truck styled like the Volkswagens Mr. Caamano has always loved and – just in time for Halloween – a two-seat rolling chassis nicknamed the Skeletor.
The Skeletor is what’s known as a neighborhood electric vehicle, which is a class unto itself, distinct from golf carts.
Mr. Okonsky, 49, is an engineer who worked for Dell, and is leading KLD’s adoption of regionalized production by contract manufacturers, patterned after Dell’s own method. Mr. Caamano, 50, is an inventor who claims 28 patents, most pertaining to the motor at the heart of KLD’s oneDrive integrated electric power system. KLD has 20 employees in Austin and 10 more at its Morgan Hill, Calif., research facility.
Mr. Okonsky and Mr. Caamano first recognized kindred spirits in each other some years ago when discussing their admiration for Nikola Tesla.
“We raised a lot of money to develop our technology over five years, and literally this month is the first that we’ve started shipping product,” Mr. Okonsky said in an interview.
Mr. Caamano worked on Volkswagens after high school, perhaps informing the Skeletor’s compact rear-mounted drive system. It uses direct drive, with halfshafts supplying the power unit’s motive force to each rear wheel. Two motors, linked by an electronically controlled differential, are paired inside a drum, and master and slave controllers are mounted on top. A small battery pack supplied by Samsung is sandwiched under the seats. KLD created its own power-management software.
Mr. Caamano said that California’s air pollution problems in the 1970s instilled in him a deep revulsion toward internal combustion that oriented him toward electric drive. He said he had spent 20 years working out his thoughts on one Drive.
On KLD’s website, specifications for the neighborhood electric vehicle based on the Skeletor chassis list a top speed of 25 miles per hour and range of 24 miles from the 3.12-kilowatt-hour battery pack. In a test on local streets, the Skeletor accelerated smoothly and ran quietly, although its vaporous steering would have been rejected by a clown car manufacturer.
“We set the motor controller here in the States at half speed,” Mr. Caamano said, referring to restrictions imposed by federal and state governments. “It’s capable of 50 miles per hour.”
But KLD’s claims of a big step forward in electric propulsion “set off all my alarm bells,” said Tom Gage, chief executive of EV Grid, in a telephone interview. His organization seeks to integrate electric vehicles into the existing power network. “The efficiency of electric drive systems isn’t the problem,” Mr. Gage said. “They’re all very, very efficient. I think the ship has sailed now for standard drive systems. What the car companies want now is low cost and high reliability.”
But Mr. Caamano said the use of amorphous metals, which have unique microstructures, makes for a power-dense, low-cost compact motor and a smaller array of lithium batteries. He explained that neodymium iron-boron permanent magnets that are cheaply made and easily configured provide another cost advantage. These materials overcome the limitations of conventional, easily demagnetized metals and heavy copper windings that retain heat.
“The possibility of these various materials in combination allows for a very high efficiency at high frequency,” Mr. Caamano said. “This is a breakthrough in the magnetic world.”
Operating at a lower voltage than other electric and hybrid vehicles provides advantages beyond improved efficiency, he said, citing enhanced safety and extended battery life.
Scalability, meanwhile, comes from the use of varying numbers of torque-generating stator blocks within the motor, Mr. Caamano said. Rather than a one-piece element wrapping around the motor’s circumference, KLD’s stator – which stays in fixed position relative to the rotor – is assembled as a triangular module. Varying numbers of stator blocks are installed according to the application – thus, the claimed adjustable power output levels, reduced magnetic losses and potential economies of scale.
Mr. Okonsky and Mr. Caamano first recognized kindred spirits in each other some years ago when discussing their admiration for Nikola Tesla.
“We raised a lot of money to develop our technology over five years, and literally this month is the first that we’ve started shipping product,” Mr. Okonsky said in an interview.
Mr. Caamano worked on Volkswagens after high school, perhaps informing the Skeletor’s compact rear-mounted drive system. It uses direct drive, with halfshafts supplying the power unit’s motive force to each rear wheel. Two motors, linked by an electronically controlled differential, are paired inside a drum, and master and slave controllers are mounted on top. A small battery pack supplied by Samsung is sandwiched under the seats. KLD created its own power-management software.
Mr. Caamano said that California’s air pollution problems in the 1970s instilled in him a deep revulsion toward internal combustion that oriented him toward electric drive. He said he had spent 20 years working out his thoughts on one Drive.
On KLD’s website, specifications for the neighborhood electric vehicle based on the Skeletor chassis list a top speed of 25 miles per hour and range of 24 miles from the 3.12-kilowatt-hour battery pack. In a test on local streets, the Skeletor accelerated smoothly and ran quietly, although its vaporous steering would have been rejected by a clown car manufacturer.
“We set the motor controller here in the States at half speed,” Mr. Caamano said, referring to restrictions imposed by federal and state governments. “It’s capable of 50 miles per hour.”
But KLD’s claims of a big step forward in electric propulsion “set off all my alarm bells,” said Tom Gage, chief executive of EV Grid, in a telephone interview. His organization seeks to integrate electric vehicles into the existing power network. “The efficiency of electric drive systems isn’t the problem,” Mr. Gage said. “They’re all very, very efficient. I think the ship has sailed now for standard drive systems. What the car companies want now is low cost and high reliability.”
But Mr. Caamano said the use of amorphous metals, which have unique microstructures, makes for a power-dense, low-cost compact motor and a smaller array of lithium batteries. He explained that neodymium iron-boron permanent magnets that are cheaply made and easily configured provide another cost advantage. These materials overcome the limitations of conventional, easily demagnetized metals and heavy copper windings that retain heat.
“The possibility of these various materials in combination allows for a very high efficiency at high frequency,” Mr. Caamano said. “This is a breakthrough in the magnetic world.”
Operating at a lower voltage than other electric and hybrid vehicles provides advantages beyond improved efficiency, he said, citing enhanced safety and extended battery life.
Scalability, meanwhile, comes from the use of varying numbers of torque-generating stator blocks within the motor, Mr. Caamano said. Rather than a one-piece element wrapping around the motor’s circumference, KLD’s stator – which stays in fixed position relative to the rotor – is assembled as a triangular module. Varying numbers of stator blocks are installed according to the application – thus, the claimed adjustable power output levels, reduced magnetic losses and potential economies of scale.
The Vmoto scooter in KLD’s exhibition fleet had four stator blocks in the motor, which was integrated with the rear wheel. Like the Skeletor, the Cenntro Motors Kombi Green Space utility truck had dual one Drive motors with six stator blocks.
Mr. Okonsky, whose name is written in English and Mandarin on his business card, said the company’s first focus will be on scooters. The Vmoto didn’t accelerate like a racehorse out of the gate, but soon enough it was cruising silently through the neighborhood at 35 m.p.h.
But interest in oneDrive extends beyond the two-wheel world. Brad Jaeger, vice president for engineering and operations at Edison2, the creator of the Very Light Car that won the Automotive X Prize in 2010, looked at KLD’s website and said in a telephone interview, “The technology that KLD is shopping around would fit perfectly with the flexibility and modularity Edison2 has been working on with its new vehicle.”
Could KLD’s oneDrive ultimately find a home in Detroit? “Oh, absolutely,” Mr. Caamano said. “It all adds up to less battery, which is the most expensive component in the electric car today.”
But interest in oneDrive extends beyond the two-wheel world. Brad Jaeger, vice president for engineering and operations at Edison2, the creator of the Very Light Car that won the Automotive X Prize in 2010, looked at KLD’s website and said in a telephone interview, “The technology that KLD is shopping around would fit perfectly with the flexibility and modularity Edison2 has been working on with its new vehicle.”
Could KLD’s oneDrive ultimately find a home in Detroit? “Oh, absolutely,” Mr. Caamano said. “It all adds up to less battery, which is the most expensive component in the electric car today.”
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