10
EAGLE EYE
Engineering the future
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Zero Carbon emissions
Left to right: Steve Gosling, Dave Wilson, Mark Hopkins, Jon Sayers, Hariprasad Pende and Alex Fernandes
I
t took NASA eight years to land a man on the Moon once JFK had given them the nod. It took Dennis Eagle slightly longer to develop the eCollect. But then again, we had more to do and – believe it or not – even further to go. This is how the project was born, developed and flourished.
A long-term challenge – to reduce emissions from RCVs – was announced by Dennis Eagle in 2010. Air quality and climate change were in the news but the development of different technologies finally made tackling emissions a tangible possibility. And so, it began: considering different options and
The plan
building prototypes using alternative fuels and different vehicle designs.
However, two other things happened around this time. First, attitudes hardened and it became clear that people seeking an alternative to diesel trucks wanted a real alternative, not a hybrid which they saw as a compromise. Secondly, battery technology took great leaps forward.
“We joined a consortium to build hybrid vehicles and we tried other technologies too,” said Head of Engineering Jon Sayers. “It quickly became apparent we needed to do something different, either by developing something mega-lightweight or purely electric. “And we did build a super lightweight truck. But it was so radical it would have been a real challenge selling it to our customers.”
Pat Donovan, Development Shop Technician
“ At the start of the project, we would have needed a 2.5 tonne battery to power an electric truck.
Summer 2021
