Recaptured Energy Technologies Partners with Ricardo on Green Solutions

Many of you have heard of Ricardo, a company that has a rich history in Motorsports. However, most of you probably haven’t heard of Recaptured Energy Technologies (RET), until now. The company has just announced a partnership with Ricardo to develop and produce “Green Solutions” to the fuel and emissions problems that plague fleet, commercial and transit vehicle operators.

RET’s basic technology is this: they have a retrofitable hydraulic propulsion system for large vehicles that stores energy in hydraulic cylinders with compressed gas. The vehicle, such as a city bus, then uses that stored energy to give it a boost when starting up. The technology is known as RPS, or Retrofitable Propulsion System, and reduces fuel use by 25 percent and emissions by 25 percent. But before you finish mumbling about how improved fuel economy doesn’t eliminate our dependence on fossil-fuel based energy, this system can improve the fuel and emissions of vehicles using all forms of fuel including ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, propane and more.

“We like to say that the vehicle is indifferent and fuel agnostic,” said Sam Jones, President of Recaptured Energy Technologies.

For the technology to be most effective, it needs to be added to fleet vehicles that start and stop frequently such as city buses, school buses, refuse trucks and delivery trucks. When a vehicle brakes, it expends energy which is wasted. The RPS technology efficiently captures that energy and stores it for use when the vehicle needs a boost, such as a city bus pulling into traffic after it has stopped at a bus stop. Actually, the technology produces 500 more horsepower versus a traditional gasoline engine if all returned at once, but as of now, there are no buses drag racing so they don’t quite need that kind of power.

It is also interesting to note that not only does the stored energy reduce fuel use while improving power, but it also reduces emissions. So that bus that pulled in front of you is not spewing emissions into your windshield and vents, and your kids riding the school bus aren’t going to have a toxin induced asthma attack.

The technology is similar to the battery technology found in a hybrid car, such as a Toyota Prius, explained Jones. However, he noted that the technology is actually better than battery technology for several reasons. One, you don’t have to charge a battery, (aka use coal-based electricity) you charge the hydraulics cylinder. Two, you can recycle all the materials used in this process versus the difficulty of recycling materials from the current battery technologies.

Not only does RPS improve fuel economy, it also extends the life of the vehicle said Jones. A vehicle using this technology will have less maintenance costs and less wear and tear on the brakes, a critical component of fleet vehicles.

Jones estimates that to add the technology to a city bus costs around $35,000, but at the current average fuel costs, a company will see its return on investment in 15 months. On average, a city bus stays in operation about 12 years.

Here is another way to look at the savings. The municipal bus and trolley system in the U.S. uses 765 million gallons of fuel each year. If you put the RPS system on all of these buses, you would save nearly 187 million gallons of fuel each year. “At $3.00 per gallon, $561 million dollars would be put back into municipal governments each year,” said Jones. The savings are even greater when you add this technology to a vehicle, like a school bus, that uses an alternative fuel such as biodiesel which is typically less expensive than traditional diesel fuel.

Ricardo is the engineering firm subcontracted to retrofit the vehicles. They, along with RET, will meet with a potential customer and design the appropriate system. If the company has a maintenance team, they will receive a custom kit. If not, certified installers will be available across the country.

“We are excited to serve as a resource partner for Recaptured Energy Technologies,” said Karina Morley, global product group director of controls and electronics for Ricardo. “Recaptured Energy Technologies is committed to finding solutions for reducing fuel consumption and emissions of fleet vehicles and we believe that Ricardo has much to offer in this area of endeavor. The Recaptured Energy Technologies team is very passionate about what they do and we feel Ricardo is the perfect partner to help them achieve their goals.”

The first full-scale test is getting underway and Jones estimates that RPS wil be available for fleets to purchase within the next 12-18 months. He said that although the technology will be sold in other countries (Did you know that Bejing has 40,000 city buses and the entire U.S. has between 70,000 – 80,000 buses?) everything will be developed and manufactured in the U.S. The company is currently based in Chicago but Jones jokes that if another state is interested, they will move. In the meantime, he is focused on bringing this technology to market and then working on engine start/stop technology.

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