The ELECTER parallel hybrid drive demonstrator from RENAULT TRUCKS Defense (RTD), the subject of an “Upstream Study Program” (PEA) assigned by the DGA in 2012, has undergone testing in the last three years covering more than 5000 km, half of which in all-terrain conditions. It is on show at the Summer School of the MEDEF, the French employers’ federation.
Offering a foretaste of how the military hardware of the future is to be equipped, this PEA, presented before the tests in 2014, demonstrated the reliability, robustness and performance of this concept over two years of particularly demanding tests, under conditions close to the operational realities.
This PEA, assigned to RENAULT TRUCKS Defense on 21 December 2012, is now at an end, with 7 different operating modes validated and able to be installed on the company’s products, with a view to fulfilling the requirements of modern military operations.
RTD can therefore propose Hybrid mode, for reduced fuel consumption; Furtive mode, for silent travel; Booster mode, for quick acceleration of man oeuvres; Quick recharge mode for the drive battery; APU with battery, enabling silent standby without onboard generators; APU with combustion engine, offering high-level electrical power; and Diesel, for travel in partial mission capable mode.
RENAULT TRUCKS Defense, one of the three members of the consortium to which the French Ministry of Defense awarded the Scorpion contract on 5 December 2014, will be involved in the production of the new generation of vanguard vehicles for the French Army: the VBMR and the EBRC. RENAULT TRUCKS Defense is responsible, in particular, for providing the powertrains for these two vehicles, and for handling the entire supply chain for the spare parts and components of the Scorpion program.
