Scania’s dual-battery invention has had a huge impact, helping to overcome a challenge that was faced by heavy goods vehicle (HGV) operators and addressing a common problem drivers faced when starting vehicles – dead batteries.
The first vehicle featuring the innovation hit the roads in 2013, marking a new standard in automotive technology that has since helped to ensure vehicle startability and reliability of trucks on the roads, even those with depleted batteries.
The brain behind the invention is Gunnar Ledfelt, expert engineer in research and development, who specialises in electric power supply systems at Scania and was recently recognised for his work over the last 18 years.
Titled ‘Activation Device and Activation Method for a Dual-Battery System’, at the time of the invention, it solved an industry-wide problem with the innovation involving minimal vehicle modifications.
The simple and effective system includes an additional starter battery that automatically activates when the primary battery is discharged, ensuring the HGV starts without any extra effort from the driver. This clever mechanism helped to save costs, enhance driver convenience and reduce vehicle downtime.
Ledfelt explains: “Early in my career, I started thinking of how to improve solutions to everyday truck problems and how we can solve them. I knew starting was a problem for drivers.
“The Dual Battery System allows you to start, even with empty batteries, as you can start with this extra set. Drivers can rely on startability, even if they use all the available power for sleeping in the truck overnight, for example.
“Scania has been thinking of how to solve this starting problem for many years. My contribution was to find the appropriate battery components that would fit into the existing battery box and also have this connection of the starter battery automatically to the rest of the vehicle – when you turn the starter key to the starting position.
“It keeps the vehicle unaffected and you do not need to change anything in the existing vehicle, you just need to do some reprogramming. From an installation point of view, it is an add on.”
NOW AND THE FUTURE
Other inventions that Ledfelt has been the pioneer for at Scania have included a more reliable battery master switch, and a protection device for starter motor issues, which enhance vehicle safety and reliability.
“There are smart things that I have contributed to that are used in trucks now, and some will be used in trucks of the future,” he says. “These include a battery master switch manoeuvre circuit that is much more reliable than what we had previously.
“It is a manoeuvre switch that you open or you close, and the battery master switch will open and close in relation to that signal. It is obviously dangerous if you are driving and the manoeuvre circuit is broken due to the cable.”
Previously, if you sent a signal, there used to be two circuits in these manoeuvre circuits. Ledfelt and his team found that if you sent two opposite signals into the manoeuvre switch, then you would receive those signals in one pattern when it is open and another pattern when it is closed.
“So, if you lose the cable completely, you do not have to change anything and most switches will stay in the existing position,“ he says. “And of course, the driver is warned, and told there is a cable problem instead of having to open the switch, which was the case earlier.”
Another invention is a protection device for starter motor issues. When starter motors get stuck, there is a risk of having a heavy short circuit if you restart the starter motor after a failed starter. The protection device invented blocks the power to the starter motor and warns the driver that there is a major starter motor problem.
ALWAYS INVENTING
Ledfelt now has 36 patents under his name, and continues to collaborate with his team on new technology inventions for trucks. One area of particular focus is power supplies in electric vehicles.
He notes that the need to maintain vehicle functionality in case of failures in this area is not only a challenge for Scania, but for all commercial vehicle manufacturers.
“There is a need for a failure operation power supply,” he says. “Today, there is an acceptance that you have a roadside event if you have a failure and it is kind of acceptable – as long as there is a driver to handle the problem. For example, you have backup for brakes.
“We have hydraulic power steering, for example. If you go for more electrification in these systems, you need to ensure that there is power so if you have one failure, the overall functionality still needs to be there, and you need to have enough power supply to have a safe stop.”
Ledfelt notes that the big headache – not only for trucks, but for passenger cars – is how to charge the secondary battery from the primary side. “There are solutions to handle this, but they are often very complicated and quite expensive. We have been working on this for a few years, and we will continue to do that to make it less complicated and less expensive,” he says.
JOURNEY OF INVENTION
Ledfelt’s career journey to expert engineer began more than two decades ago, when he started as a new convert with a PhD in electromagnetics before progressing to become an expert engineer, a role he has held for 18 years.
When he started inventing, it was a combination of “curiosity and problem-solving”. He took inspiration from working with colleagues, who were inventors working with patents, teaching him that a clever idea can develop into something bigger with the patent team’s help. Not every idea he has conceived has made it to production, as some were unfeasible or already known.
The personal reward of seeing his inventions impact real-world applications is something that drives him to keep on inventing.
“I met a Scania truck driver in the line two years ago when I was waiting for ferry going from Germany to Sweden,” he says. “He said he was thrilled with his truck, as he said ’I have this fantastic Dual Battery System that is so good and it means that I can always start’. When I told him that I was the inventor of the Dual Battery System for this part, he hugged me. He was almost crying. The idea that I bring something into production is really rewarding and it makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Ledfelt believes that Scania is the perfect place to bring inventions to life as the manufacturer has a forward-thinking approach to technology and provides great support, encouraging him to work broadly.
