VENDOR.Drive
Propulsion-energy architecture for electric transport platforms in which the large traction battery no longer serves as the primary stored-energy reserve for the journey and shifts to startup initiation and transient-power buffering.
VENDOR.Drive is an onboard energy architecture under development for integration into electric transport platforms by vehicle manufacturers and engineering partners. It is designed for two functions: supplying the traction electrical system while the vehicle is in motion, and supplying power to compatible external electrical loads after arrival.
This page covers the integration of the VENDOR architecture into the traction electrical system of a vehicle. Power and transient-load requirements are set by the target platform.
Vehicle type approval applies to the specific integrated vehicle configuration and is addressed at the level of that configuration.
The operating principle, the origin of the energy and the independent verification protocol are covered separately.
From energy reservoir to power buffer
The difference between a conventional electric vehicle and the target VENDOR.Drive architecture does not begin with the motor or with battery capacity. It begins with the function the battery performs in the system.
The battery as a reservoir
- Charging source
- Traction battery
- Power electronics
- Traction motor
The battery performs two different functions at once: it is the primary energy store for the journey and the source of peak power under acceleration. The primary onboard energy reserve for the journey is established before departure by charging the traction battery.
The battery as a buffer
- VENDOR onboard energy architecture
- Traction electrical path
A battery layer is retained alongside it for startup and transient traction demand. The battery remains in the system, but its function changes.
The objective is not to build a larger battery. It is to remove battery capacity from the role of the defining energy boundary of electric mobility.
Why a battery remains in VENDOR.Drive
The battery layer performs two engineering functions, and neither of them is the function of the primary energy store for the journey.
Initiation
Transitioning the architecture from rest into its operating regime requires initial conditions. Those initial conditions are established using initiation energy from the onboard battery layer.
Transient traction buffer
Acceleration, manoeuvring and short peaks of the traction system create transient demands that depend on the target platform. The buffer layer is designed to cover short-term transient demand without returning the battery to the role of the primary energy reserve of the journey.
- Transient current envelope under acceleration, \(di/dt\)
- Coupling-voltage compatibility with the DC bus
- Dynamic response of the energy architecture relative to the discharge characteristic of the buffer
- Power-to-energy ratio of the buffer layer
- Regenerative event profile where applicable
- Thermal, dimensional and protective envelope of the installation
- Control and diagnostic interfaces
These parameters are platform-specific and are established in the integration programme of the particular vehicle.
Range no longer defined by battery capacity alone
In a conventional battery architecture the primary onboard energy store for the journey is loaded into the vehicle before departure. The chain runs from stored energy to available range to the next charging stop.
VENDOR.Drive is designed so that pre-stored chemical capacity is no longer the sole energy limit on movement.
Design objective: driving without planning the next charging stop.
What changes is the energy constraint on mobility, not the physics of moving a vehicle.
Decoupling mobility from the charging network
The subject here is dependence, not the existence of charging infrastructure. The design objective is that a charging station should no longer be a mandatory precondition of every subsequent driving cycle. Final charging requirements are established by a validated implementation on a target platform.
From propulsion to power at destination
VENDOR.Drive is designed not only as a propulsion-energy architecture. After arrival, the same integrated system is intended to make electrical power available to a compatible external load.
Propulsion in motion. Electrical power at destination.
The external-power capability is designed as an integrated vehicle function. It is to be provided by the same onboard propulsion-energy architecture, not by a separate power unit carried by the vehicle.
Where the energy capability arrives
The classes below describe load types rather than sector offerings. Deployment by sector is covered in the solutions section.
Emergency response
Communications, emergency equipment, temporary medical facilities and rescue operations, where access to fixed energy infrastructure or regular fuel supply is limited.
Field and temporary infrastructure
Remote work sites, construction, pumping equipment, telecommunications nodes and temporary facilities outside network coverage.
Commercial and municipal operations
Mobile services, municipal fleets, temperature-controlled logistics and field workplaces.
The output interface and the admissible load are determined by the configuration.
From a transport fleet to a mobile energy fleet
A VENDOR.Drive fleet is a distributed set of vehicles whose onboard propulsion-energy architecture is designed to make electrical power available where those vehicles are deployed.
Capability tied to charging points
Fleet vehicles remain dependent on charging infrastructure to replenish energy. The energy capability of the fleet is tied to the location of its charging points.
Capability travels with the fleet
In the target architecture each vehicle combines its transport task with a designed capability to supply an external load. Energy capability moves with the fleet.
A fleet moves more than people, equipment and cargo. It moves energy capability.
A mobile energy fleet describes geographically distributed mobile energy capability. It is not a bidirectional grid-exchange or virtual-power-plant architecture.
What separates Drive from Max
VENDOR.Max
Stationary energy architecture of a site: integration on the premises, an interface with the load of that site, fixed deployment.
VENDOR.Drive
Propulsion-energy architecture of a vehicle: integration into an electric transport platform, meeting traction requirements, a battery layer for startup and transient loads, and a designed capability to supply an external load.
VENDOR.Drive is not VENDOR.Max carried by a vehicle. It is a dedicated propulsion-energy implementation of the VENDOR architecture.
Development and platform verification
Project stage: TRL 2 — Technology concept formulated
Verification of the stationary architecture is not evidence of the characteristics of a transport implementation. Characteristics are established only for a verified integration configuration.
What is established on the platform
- Electrical interface and coupling with the DC bus
- Transient traction load profile
- Thermal envelope
- Regenerative modes where applicable
- Electromagnetic compatibility and operating conditions
- Control, protection and diagnostics
- External load interface
Built for integration, not as a VENDOR vehicle
VENDOR.Drive is being developed for work with vehicle manufacturers, engineering partners, fleet operators and pilot platforms. Integration is determined by the drivetrain architecture, the DC bus, the inverter, the control interfaces and the envelope of the platform.
Questions about VENDOR.Drive
What is VENDOR.Drive architecture?
A propulsion-energy architecture under development for integration into electric transport platforms by vehicle manufacturers, engineering partners and fleet operators.
Does VENDOR.Drive completely eliminate the traction battery?
VENDOR.Drive does not remove the battery layer entirely. The architecture is being developed to replace the large traction battery specifically in the role of the primary energy reserve of the journey; a battery is retained for initiation and transient traction demand.
Why does VENDOR.Drive still use a battery?
Two functions: the initiation energy that moves the architecture into its operating regime, and the buffering of transient traction currents, primarily under acceleration. Neither of them is the function of the primary energy store for the journey.
How does VENDOR.Drive change dependence on charging infrastructure?
The architecture is being developed so that fixed charging no longer defines every subsequent driving cycle. Final dependence on external charging infrastructure is established only for a validated integration on a target platform.
Which limit on range actually changes?
In a battery architecture the available range is set by the energy stored in the traction battery before departure. VENDOR.Drive is designed so that this pre-stored capacity is no longer the sole energy limit on movement. The operating range of a particular vehicle is established by its integration and verification.
Can VENDOR.Drive power equipment outside the vehicle?
This is the second designed capability of the architecture, following the traction function. It is to be provided by the same onboard energy architecture rather than by a separate transported unit. The output interface and the admissible load are determined by the configuration.
What is a mobile energy fleet?
A distributed set of vehicles whose onboard energy architecture is designed to make electrical power available where those vehicles are deployed. This is geographically distributed mobile capability, not a grid-exchange or virtual-power-plant architecture.
From energy reservoir to power buffer.
Next step
Integration begins with the electrical architecture of the target platform, its transient load profile and its deployment requirements.
