Rinspeed concept vehicle powered by Linde Material Handling
Under the motto "My, your, our car!", the automotive think-tank Rinspeed, run by its Swiss founder, Frank M. Rinderknecht, unveiled the "microMAX" at this year's motor show — a completely new class of vehicle with an innovative upright seating concept that aims to combine private and public use over short distances in a smart way. The vehicle is fitted with the eco-Kit M from Linde Material Handling, the leading manufacturer of electrically driven counterbalance forklift trucks in Europe. The device is responsible for powering the drive system of the "microMAX", which is a fully electric vehicle. The eco-Kit M is one of three pre-built drive units that provide 12 (S), 32 (M) and 50 (L) kilowatts of power, allowing mobile and stationary applications to be converted to electrical power. The company first presented the unit at Automechanika 2012.

 
"microMAX" – a completely new class of vehicle with an innovative upright seating concept that aims to combine private and public use over short distances in a smart way.

An asynchronous motor with a torque of 130 newton metres forms the heart of the drive unit. Its brain is a LINC1 controller, which uses two can bus systems to convert the accelerator signal for actuating the converter to the required rotational speed. The controller also monitors the battery management system and transfers the traction and battery parameters to the driver display. The software allows the drive system to be adapted optimally to the specific vehicle characteristics of the "microMAX". All components, including the drive direction switch and contactor board with the main contactor, DC converter and further components that round off the system, are also used in the E35 electric forklift truck from Linde MH, and have been tried and tested many times in everyday use.

 
Frank M. Rinderknecht learnt of the activities and products of Linde Material Handling in the field of electro mobility when he visited Automechanika. Linde MH was Rindspeed’s preferred partner from the start for the drive system.
"I was very impressed at how fast Linde Material Handling reacted to our request and how quickly the drive system was integrated into the vehicle", Rindspeed CEO Frank M. Rinderknecht recalls. "Together, we were able to get the Drive sub-project off the ground in five weeks, which convinced me that Linde MH was our preferred partner from the start for this project". Rinderknecht, a visionary in the automotive world, learnt of the activities and products of Linde Material Handling in the field of electromobility when he visited Automechanika. The company has been offering and marketing these products under the "eMotion" label since 2010. The key organisation in this area is the Electronic Systems & Drives (ES&D) department at Linde Material Handling, which is now part of the newly established New Business & Products division.

The brain of the drive unit is a LINC1 controller, which converts the accelerator signal for actuating converter and motor to the required rotational speed. The controller also monitors the battery management system and transfers the traction and battery parameters to the driver display.

"Under the eMotion label, we are grouping all of the knowledge gained from four decades of developing electrical drive systems for industrial trucks, the proven systems expertise of ES&D and our tried-and-tested truck components from series production. We then offer this package to new customer groups as a system solution for a wide range of applications", explains Theodor Maurer, Chief Executive Officer of Linde Material Handling, on the logic behind the new offering. Maik Manthey, Head of the New Business & Products division adds, "The contribution we have made to this new 'microMAX' mobility concept is an excellent example of what ES&D can achieve, and shows once again that efficient, high-performance but, at the same time, cost-effective electric drive systems are no longer a vision of the future".

Linde Material Handling has already had some commercial success with the ROTRAC E2 and E4 electric rail-road shunters, which are a result of collaboration with rail-road specialist Zwiehoff, a company based in Rosenheim, Germany; these shunters are now in use in loading stations and repair workshops from Paderborn in Germany to Kazakhstan. The New 500 E electric car, based on the Fiat 500, from the manufacturer Karabag in Hamburg, Germany, also deserves a mention; the full cost of the vehicle per month is over 50 euro lower than that of the series vehicle with a petrol engine. However, a new, compact municipal utility vehicle, which Linde Material Handling will be presenting at events such as MobiliTec 2013 in Hanover, Germany, also shows promise on the market. In all of the examples mentioned, the key components of the drive system have been taken from series production of Linde electric forklift trucks.

 
"microMAX" is a fully electric vehicle – powered by Linde Material Handling.
Linde Material Handling can be found at the Geneva Motor Show on stand 6240 in hall 6.