Dragonfly eyes changing the trucking industry

Dragonfly Energy has gained so much traction providing lithium-ion batteries for the RV industry that its batteries now come as standard equipment with every iconic Airstream travel trailer that’s shipped from the company’s manufacturing facility in Jackson Center, Ohio.

The green energy storage company headquartered in south Reno is making a similar push to get widespread adoption of its Battle Born Batteries in the trucking industry to alleviate unnecessary truck idling when big rigs aren’t in motion.

Wade Seaburg, chief revenue officer for Dragonfly Energy, said engine idling is a huge issue in the trucking industry, yet the solution is as simple as a tap-in putt.

“From a sustainability aspect, there is no better solution than Battle Born Batteries,” Seaburg said.

The footprint of a Battle Born all-electric APU electric power system is about 32” by 31” and 8” deep. In big rigs, it sits in between the frame rails just to the rear of the cab, so it’s completely unobtrusive. The system provides 540 amp hours at 12 volts – more than enough to power all internal devices and heating and cooling systems throughout a mandatory 10-hour overnight rest period, Seaburg said.

According to Argonne National Laboratory of Lemont, Ill., diesel-powered passenger vehicles, along with light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, burn more than six million gallons of diesel fuel each year — all without moving.

An idling big rig truck burns as much as one gallon of diesel fuel per hour. At $4 a gallon, a 10-hour rest period could cost as much as $40. Heavy duty trucks often idle between 1,800 and 2,500 hours each year, which could result in approximately $9,200 to $10,000 in fuel charges each year just to keep the cab warm or cool and power other at-rest equipment, such as televisions, computers, refrigerators and any other powered devices in the sleeper.

“Our message is, ‘Let’s leave the diesel engine off when we are not moving freight,’” Seaburg said.

Seaburg said there are three ways long-haul trucks provide internal power for driver comfort and convenience:

• Auto stop and start. The primary diesel engine starts and stops running as needed when the truck is stopped. Unnecessary idling in trucks without auxiliary power units consumes an average of 10,080 gallons of fuel over a four-year period.

• Diesel APU (auxiliary power unit). A second, smaller diesel engine is installed to power all at-rest loads. These smaller engines sip diesel at a quarter-gallon per hour, but the fuel savings are reduced by the hefty $14,000 up-front installation cost, Seaburg said.

• Electric-hybrid APU. This type of power supply uses eight lead-acid batteries that are joined together. Batteries typically need to be replaced after 18 to 24 months, and as the batteries age, they lose their efficiency and end up consuming more diesel fuel than a standard diesel APU because they engage the main diesel engine multiple times each rest period to maintain the voltage necessary to provide sufficient power to the cab.

“From a driver’s perspective, restarting and stopping the engine wakes you up no matter how long you have been a driver,” Seaburg said. “When the engine comes to rest it vibrates, and that jolts drivers out of a deep sleep.”

Wade Seaburg

 

Dragonfly Energy has more than a decade of experience providing Battle Born Batteries to the RV industry, and with hundreds of thousands of battery units installed, it’s gained industry-wide cachet that’s helping the company penetrate the trucking industry, Seaburg said.

“Many of the people in the trucking industry who we are presenting to know us because they have an RV or a boat, which makes the conversations easier,” Seaburg said. “We have more than 300,000 batteries being used in the RV market, so we have the reputation to be able to really open doors in the trucking industry.”

Seaburg told NNBW that the idea to provide lithium-ion-powered auxiliary batteries to the trucking industry came about two years ago during the annual technology and maintenance conference of the American Trucking Association. Since then, Dragonfly Energy has been engaging executives at trucking companies to tout the benefits of Battle Born Batteries versus other types of auxiliary power.

Those conversations center around a fleet’s understanding of how they are operating and how much fuel is being used due to engine idling, Seaburg said. Dragonfly Energy also has joined all the major trucking trade organizations and is a member of both the American Trucking Association and Truckload Carriers Association.

“Most of the work comes down to the maintenance department, and if you are VP or director of maintenance, you are putting out fires every day trying to keep trucks running and freight on the road. We are trying to get as far up the food chain as we can and speak with someone who has the ability to look at fuel usage and consumption, with an eye on sustainability, to drive the conversation back down to the maintenance level and make it a priority.

“With the breadth of products we already have in the RV industry, we are able to show those executives that our batteries have the reliability to withstand the rigors of the trucking industry. It’s a highly abusive environment – most trucks are turned on 350 days per year. They are used everyday. However, a long haul truck’s sleeper cab is nothing more than an RV. It’s a more abusive environment, but from an application set and how the power is being charged and discharged, it is the same as what we see in the RV market.”

Dragonfly Energy expects adoption of its products in the trucking industry to mirror the RV industry, Seaburg added. In the RV industry, Dragonfly initially engaged with consumers and showed them the benefits of installing a Battle Born Battery system. Eventually, Seaburg said, RV manufacturers engaged with Dragonfly to figure out how to put Battle Born Battery systems on their vehicles as standard equipment.

“If we gain traction with the biggest trucking fleets, eventually they will go to the manufacturers and request that our system is factory installed. We see this trend going up the chain until we are a factory-installed option; that is our goal,” Seaburg said.