Webasto Product North America — a provider of heating and cooling solutions for the light- and heavy-duty transportation industries — announced Thursday, May 29, that it has received approval from the California Air Resources Board for its BlueCool Truck bunk cooler. Out of all CARB-approved devices, BCT — designed to provide true engine-off bunk cooling and dehumidification — is the only engine-off technology that has no emissions when in use, Webasto says.
“BlueCool Truck isn’t an APU (auxiliary power unit) at all,” says John Thomas, vice president of marketing for Fenton, Mich.-based WPNA. “It’s a technologically advanced energy storage system which harnesses the kinetic energy of the truck’s drivetrain while traveling down the road and stores it as potential energy in the BCT storage core. When needed, this potential energy is released again as kinetic energy on demand to cool the bunk area.” The system requires no additional batteries, Thomas says, and when in discharge mode uses no fuel and produces no emissions.
Webasto says the BCT system uses more than 80 less fuel than an APU and 90 percent less fuel than an idling truck. Based on current demand, the company is projecting to sell 5,000 BCT units in 2008.
