eMachine: Scania’s New Hybrid Marine Power Solution
This is a transcendent time in the marine industry as stakeholders explore new technologies to drive efficiency gains and reduce emissions. At the end of 2022, Scania will introduce its new its new electric hybrid package, eMachine, at the Electric & Hybrid Exhibition.
The hybrid and full electric offering ranges from 150 to 230 kilowatts continuous electric power, with all hardware and intelligence included. “The package we're launching is made for making sustainable solutions easy and accessible for all our customers—current and new ones. The package allows customers to choose the electric or hybrid setup and still always receive our built-in intelligence,” said Torben Dabrowski, Global E-Mobility Sales Development Manager, Scania.
The number of hybrid and electric solutions available on the market today is growing, but Dabrowski said Scania’s offering boasts several features that make it unique. He described a clutching system that automatically and seamlessly allows the vessel to switch between totally diesel or full electric operations. “Either the eMachine would rev up and clutch into the diesel engine, or the diesel would rev up and clutch into the eMachine,” he said.
Secondly, the interface is modular and flexible, and it’s the same as is used for diesel engines. “So, when we make this hybrid solution as a sandwich, you will have the same interface,” Dabrowski said. “With that comes even more good things, like you could add additional eMachines to double to triple the power.”
Thanks to these two features, Scania is able to control the entire solution, Dabrowski said. “You'll ask for RPM, or you will ask for torque, and we will make sure that you get that from the most reliable source at the time. You will have a big flexibility, and we will manage everything seamlessly with our power control units.”
Dave Hughes, Sales Manager, Scania USA, said, “Many of the current product offerings here in the United States focus on either a parallel or an inline design, and really kind of focus on the redundancy aspect. With the eMachine and the internal clutching and the technology and design that we have, that helps us provide the inline solution while still being able to ensure that the customer is going to have the redundancy should there be an internal problem.”
Hughes also noted that the entire package comes from a single source: Scania, which allows customers to better take advantage of the company’s service network.
The eMachine’s legacy can be traced back to Scania’s truck department. “This helps to very much derive outstanding quality since we're further optimizing products that are already heavily tested and verified since they're used in those applications,” Dabrowski said.
There have been others to marinize hybrid and electric products. “An intelligent marine hybrid and electric solution and a product that really has the full insight and the full solution for our customers is something totally different,” Dabrowski said. “We're marinizing a solution where we control not only the eMachine, we control the batteries, we control the power electronics and auxiliary equipment, and we manage the whole system.”
According to Hughes, Scania’s eMachine arrives amid a big push toward alternative fuels and hybrid/electric propulsion in the U.S. He said the company is currently targeting the rapidly advancing passenger vessel market, crew transfer vessels (CTV), as well as eco tour and whale watching tour vessels in places like California and Alaska. “It's becoming increasingly important to maintain the focus that Scania has on being a leader in helping ensure that we reduce emissions.”
“Everyone knows that we need to change things,” Dabrowski said. “But we still need transport. We just need to do it in a much more sustainable way to be able to sustain our global healthy environment.