Webasto and Goldhofer’s eGSE Partnership
As Goldhofer began ramping up its efforts to electrify its ground support equipment offerings, including the Sherpa E New Gen, Webasto offered its support by supplying batteries for the vehicles as well as training and technical support.
Goldhofer officials note the advantages of an electrically powered cargo tractor include no CO2 emissions, lower noise and zero particulate pollution among others. What’s more, eGSE requires less maintenance.
“An airport, by the way, is a great environment for electric vehicles, as they are not required to cover long distances and constantly pass by the charging station. It is our assumption that electrified ground support equipment at airports will rise above their niche status,” adds Jochen Preßmar, senior project engineering manager for electric vehicles at Goldhofer.
With many airports declaring goals to reduce ground emissions, Webasto and Goldhofer have partnered to optimized Goldhofer’s cargo and pushback tow tractor, the Sherpa E New Gen. Introduced in 2017, the Sherpa E offers quiet and emission-free operation. With an intelligent charging infrastructure, it offers additional benefits.
Besides an expanded performance range and extended service life, the enhanced version can be charged more quickly and with greater flexibility and provides for longer maintenance cycles and lower operating costs. The new model now comes with a gearless direct drive that generates a torque of up to 1,050 Nm. It is powered by a modular battery system with intelligent temperature management.
Several factors prompted Goldhofer to turn to Webasto to supply the battery power necessary to operate the Sherpa E.
“Imposing exacting requirements and placing prime importance on the quality and longevity of our vehicles, we take great care to only use components that offer great promise and that allow us to maintain our high standard of quality,” Preßmar says.
“Depending on the version and in line with the customer’s specific requirements, we equip the Sherpa E with one or two Webasto batteries, each generating 35 kWh,” he adds.
Webasto’s battery solution has been subjected to electromagnetic compatibility testing and therefore does not interfere with radio or electronic components. Additionally, the modular design of the battery system allowed Goldhofer to use the power source across multiple types of GSE units.
“We have diverse vehicle ranges of different sizes and requirement levels. We identified Webasto as an all-rounder for the Sherpa and Bison product segment, which offers us as a company the option of modular construction,” says Rüdiger Dube, head of product management airport technology at Goldhofer.
Goldhofer currently utilizes lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide batteries. Company officials note the energy density provided by these units is ideally suited for their applications.
“It is our hope that energy density on the cell level will keep increasing in the future,” adds Preßmar.
Goldhofer is currently aiming for at least eight years of battery life from the current units. After that time, Webasto officials note the battery should still deliver significantly more than two-thirds of its original output capacity.
“It remains to be seen if the customer will actually switch batteries or merely opt to make slight variations to their cycle,” notes Preßmar.
“However, when a battery doesn’t have its original capacity anymore, does that mean the battery is ready to be discarded? No, it still can be used, but serving a different purpose in a second-life application, e.g. as a stationary or mobile buffer storage battery,” adds Dube.
When it comes to the service life of the battery, it will be necessary to gain more experience and perform additional analyses. Experience and evaluations will also play a role in the integration of the batteries in future projects. The mechanical integration plus coolant supply and high-voltage connection were successfully integrated into the Sherpa E.
Webasto assisted Goldhofer throughout the development process. The companies exchanged data collected during the trial phase and continued to meet on a regular basis.
Calling the trend toward zero-emission drive systems highly dynamic and irreversible, Webasto and Goldhofer intend to continue supporting airports on their way to achieving zero emissions.
“We are very pleased to have gained a strong and experienced partner in Goldhofer, with whom we can drive forward electrification in the field of ground support equipment, thereby making our contribution to achieving emission-free airports around the world,” says Michael Bauer, vice president business line energy management at Webasto. “In order to be able to meet the ever-increasing demands on electric ground support vehicles we will continue to offer, and constantly expand, a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for electric vehicles. As a driver of electromobility, Goldhofer plays a key role in stimulating us to develop future products for electric vehicles in the airport sector that meet market requirements as closely as possible.”
