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EAGLE EYE
The result is a landmark in electric vehicle history
Alex Eddleston, Test Engineer
But success doesn’t end there.
M
ajor development projects often lead to spin-offs along the way. NASA famously developed Teflon while putting a man on the Moon. And as Dennis Eagle strived to produce a zeroemissions RCV, we had other successes too.
“The super lightweight RCV may have been too different to offer our customers at the time but what we learned didn’t go to waste,” confirmed Jon Sayers. “The hydraulics system is already in use in the eCollect and the vehicle itself is now the focus of another project within the Group. We also took a tonne out of the tailgate and are working out how best to use this.
Left to right: Rob Lane, Rob Colley, Andy Gibbons, Alan Gordon and Richard Waldron
However, so often the devil’s in the detail and this was no exception. They found some parts they needed simply didn’t exist at the start of the project. For smaller, highly specialised OEMs, such challenges can present mountainous obstacles But mountains are there to be climbed and our engineers achieved this. The result is a landmark in electric vehicle history. After a relentless barrage of tests, the first eCollect built for a customer rolled out of the factory in the autumn of 2020.
Bhav Chagger, Development Engineer
The result
“On a personal note, the satisfaction comes from being instrumental in creating a team that could achieve this.
It’s been very rewarding for them and for me. But we must not lose sight of precisely what we have achieved. The first eCollect is just one model, in one configuration, in one of our markets. What we have done is just open the door to electric RCVs. We understand that. And now the pressure is on to develop different vehicles.”
This is a relatively small group of flexible and high performing engineers. People as skilled and versatile as this probably don’t exist with many of the larger automotive manufacturers.
“All this reflects Dennis Eagle’s commitment to invest in technology, development and innovation,” concluded Jon. “I’m totally convinced it’s been worth it. Just look at the fruit of our labours.”
“I believe the eCollect marks a tipping point between diesel and future technology and so, to finally see it in production is special,” said Jon.
When he came here nine years ago, Jon had a team of 25. Now there are 67 engineers in design and development roles and (at the time of this interview) there are seven more positions being recruiting for.
“With electric vehicles, you get maximum torque when the vehicle is stationary and we wanted as much torque regeneration from the axles as possible. But in normal axles this is restricted so we helped one of our contractors to develop an axle specifically for an electric vehicle. It worked and now they have set up a specialist e-axle business. “And looking ahead, the low-entry cab we introduced so successfully to the UK many years ago has never been needed in Europe where crews still ride on the back of vehicles. But now, as part of the eCollect, it becomes much more of a proposition. I’m interested to see what happens.”
Summer 2021
