says in a statement that his firm’s “investment in Fallbrook reflects our commitment to help companies who are leading the way to a more sustainable energy future.”
“What they saw in us was that they were not financing some science project, but real-world, commercial applications of our technology,” Fallbrook CEO Bill Klehm told me. Closing a $25 million financing in this time of capital constraints in itself represents recognition of the technology’s potential, he added, and the transmission itself can be easily manufactured. “This device is not made of unobtanium,” Klehm says.
Fallbrook’s strategy, bolstered by approximately 300 patents or pending patents the company holds on its transmission technology, is to license its design to manufacturers in a variety of industries. And the new venture deal enables the company to expand the use of its NuVinci design for use with other types of motors in cars, tractors, military vehicles and even wind turbines, Klehm says.
The NuVinci transmission is ideally suited to improving the performance of electric motors, which are generally inefficient under loads—especially in start and stop conditions, Klehm says. He told me that incorporating Fallbrook’s NuVinci technology into an electric vehicle can lead to a 30 percent improvement in the vehicle’s range and battery life.
He also sees applications in the automotive aftermarket, especially for use with “accessory drives,” the secondary systems, such as air conditioners, that drain engine power in all vehicles. Such systems especially tax the efficiency of work vehicles like garbage trucks, military and emergency vehicles.
A garbage truck, for example, typically must speed up its engine idle to accommodate the power demand of the secondary motor that lifts trash cans from the curbside and dumps them into the truck. With a Nuvinci system on the accessory drive, Klehm says no increased engine speed is necessary—which would reduce emmissions and improve overall fuel economy.
“You could put our transmission on a 190-amp alternator and see a 34 percent improvement in energy output by the main alternator over a typical drive cycle, and a 78 percent improvment at engine idle,” Klehm says. Now, if only Fallbrook’s technology could also keep the trash from occasionally missing the truck and spilling into the street.
