4e-Consulting. It’s a Green Deal

4e-Consulting, It’s a Green Deal! What does it mean? 4e-consulting is an Italian-based founded in 2010 to provide support to partners worldwide in designing and developing engines from scratch to engine production line commissioning, as well as powertrain integration, calibration and testing. «In just four years 4e-Consulting has designed from scratch four engines (industrial Diesel engines between 1.1 and 3 liters)» said Paolo Patroncini, the founder of 4e-Consulting.

4e-Consulting and the Green Deal

Without denying its origins (as evidenced by the cooperation with Yuchai in the development of V-diesel engines, for medium-duty onroad applications, between 250 and 350 kilowatts), the time has come for the inevitable turning point towards electrification. It is Patroncini himself who tells us about.

Our immediate goal is to set up a hybrid series with range extender, a multi-purpose architecture. Specifically, it is a dumper, a ‘skeleton on which to adapt the nervous and muscular system’ according to the application. The common denominator of the project is the electrification of hydraulics. Through our Chinese joint venture, we have been scouting the electronic components of local manufacturers, to graft them onto the Emilia-Romagna region supply chain (editor’s note: it’s the so called Italian Motor Valley). We are oriented towards high voltage power handling, as with Carraro, Manitou and others.
The software is a simulator developed by us. We need it to record the loads and determine which is the most suitable power range for the required autonomy. In the case of our demo, the range is below 37 kilowatts. On diesel we would be between 37 and 56 kilowatts; in any case we would not need the SCR.

What can you tell me about the involvement of 4e Consulting in the calls for tenders related to the European Green Deal project?

The deadline of 19 May 2020 is aimed at ‘zero pollution’ projects, in view of the green deal and the 2030 agenda. This means that projects dedicated to increasing efficiency linked to fossil fuels are excluded. 4E is participating in the call for proposals for a lithium battery development centre for mobile industrial applications. We are in negotiations with a world-leading battery manufacturer, which has 20 GWh of energy produced and stored in lithium batteries. We are talking about a very large family, lithium-iron phosphate batteries are the most suitable for off-road use: intrinsically safe, with gradual heat release and a profitable second life, for example as a storage unit. The mission is to tailor the batteries to the application, to avoid too fast charge-discharge cycles.

We know that you are also involved in the design of an agricultural vehicle.

There are actually two projects related to ag applications. One involves a self-propelled machine, electrifying a trailer. The second project concerns a working vehicle and is intended to be used in enclosed spaces, where it would then operate in electric mode. We have received many requests from Northern Europe. It is a low-voltage project, demonstrating that we have not married high voltage fideistically. This system allows us to use the battery as a power source to electrify the tools. It is a retrofit that could have a large potential market, revitalising otherwise obsolete vehicles, including motor pumps, and finding space in the micro-gardening inside urban areas. The system also works stand-alone with the inverter as generator. Try to imagine it combined with solar panels in the countryside. Recharging the batteries would be free of charge…