EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINTS: Demand grows for electrified off-highway machines

Industry leaders offer their insights on the state of the heavy-duty on- and off-highway industries in this annual series of opinion pieces. The executives share their views on the most pressing technologies and trends shaping their business and the industry moving forward.

Hydraulic hybrids are very much a part of the alternative drivetrain equation, notes Chris Mays, Commercial Vehicle - Senior Technical Specialist, Corporate Advanced Engineering at BorgWarner. “Machines already have hydraulics on them, so adding a hydraulic hybrid is somewhat of a logical next step.” Even so, Mays prefers to talk electrification for heavy-duty on-highway and off-highway vehicles because, frankly, BorgWarner makes a range of electric products such as motors/generators with high-voltage hairpin technology, electrified boosting technologies and eFans for thermal management in 48-/24-V applications, to name a few. Mays recently spoke with Truck & Off-Highway Engineering about the drivers for employing hybrid and electric technology in heavy-duty and off-highway, challenges to implementation, and his view on waste heat recovery, fuel cells and more.

Why is demand for hybrid and electric technology growing in off-highway markets?