Hyliion has acquired the battery division of climate control systems and thermal management provider Gentherm, the company announced Monday.
Hyliion, who manufacturers an intelligent hybrid electric axle, was already using the Gentherm’s battery system in its 6x4HE and Thomas Healy, founder and CEO of Hyliion, says the acquisition provides his company with control over the complete battery management supply chain, from manufacturing and packaging to software development.
“This is a huge strategic advantage for us,” he adds.
Hyliion’s 6x4HE was designed to capture wasted energy when traveling downhill and applies that power when traveling uphill to keep the engine in its most efficient operating range. Cost-optimized for the trucking industry, Hyliion uses hybrid electrification to deliver fuel savings of up to 30 percent, lower emissions, instant telematics and a better driver experience.
“The path to fully electrified long-haul fleets has many challenges. Long haul semi-trucks average 600 miles a day. Electric semi-trucks, including Tesla’s, are restricted by 300 to 500 miles on a single charge,” Healy says. “Unless we regrid the entire country to accommodate power consumption with grids as large as entire cities, a hybrid solution is the only answer that makes sense for long hauls.”
Hyliion also announced Monday a strategic partnership with Toshiba, the provider of Hyliion’s battery cell technology. As Toshiba’s preferred packaging and cooling partner in the U.S., Hyliion will package high caliber, high-class li-ion cells and add cooling and battery management systems. The company has also collaborated with Dana on a proprietary cooling technology to improve the thermal management of the batteries.
