Eaton signs long-term agreement with Argentine bus manufacturer TATSA to design and supply hybrid systems
03 May 2011
Eaton Corporation has signed a long-term agreement to design and supply Argentine bus manufacturer Tecnología Avanzada en Transporte S. A. (TATSA), a company wholly owned by Consorcio Metropolitano de Transporte S.A., with a hybrid electric power system for use in buses in Argentina and throughout South America.
The alliance will produce six preproduction units initially, followed by a production plan to manufacture 20 additional units in 2011. The companies will work closely to specially match Eaton’s hybrid system to TATSA’s popular 12-meter bus model. The hybrid system combines a Cummins diesel engine with an electric motor that has a peak power output of 44 kW.
Eaton matches the system to an automated six-speed Eaton transmission and stores energy in a lithium-ion battery pack.
As a member of the Argentine commercial vehicle industry, TATSA is engaged in an expansion process in both domestic and international markets. Since 2005, the company has been building commercial vehicles at a plant in San Martin, Buenos Aires, and this year will start production in a new plant located in Maldonado, Uruguay. The company is also planning to set up another plant in Fort Valley, GA in 2011. In the last few years, TATSA has signed production agreements with various automotive companies worldwide and has also established commercial representations in the USA, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, India and Qatar.
Good to see hybrid buses, now make them CNG hybrid and they will be even cleaner. Eaton has some good products and expertise, but you really do not see them out front promoting this. They do not have to, revenues are fine the way things are and they are waiting for market driven demand before committing significant resources.
Posted by: SJC | 03 May 2011 at 01:22 PM
Argentina has to import most of its NG and is having problems to import enough. However, CNG hybrids should be advantageous in USA and Canada, where NG and SG is plentiful.
Posted by: HarveyD | 03 May 2011 at 02:21 PM
Then they should start making CO2 neutral methane out of all that pampas grass.
Posted by: SJC | 03 May 2011 at 03:30 PM
Or harvest the steady high winds for future electrified vehicles.
Posted by: HarveyD | 05 May 2011 at 11:45 AM
Sure, that sounds good too. If they are FFV PHEV dual fuel CNG then they have a lot of bases covered.
Posted by: SJC | 05 May 2011 at 07:17 PM