10 Alternative and renewable fuel concepts for the LEVC TX black taxi

SBL-Automotive presents 10 alternative and renewable fuel concepts for the LEVC TX. 10 fuels that can be used by the range extender engine in place of using petrol and further demonstrating the scope of our bi-fuel evolution concept.

• Alternative fuels – alternatives to petrol which are other non-renewable fuels.

• Renewable fuels – made from renewable feedstocks and using renewable energy.

Previously we have presented our bi-fuel evolution system for the LEVC TX. Developed in collaboration with Prins Alternative Fuel Systems and HP Taxi, this allows the adoption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), biopropane, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and biomethane in place of using petrol as fuel for the range extender engine.

LPG is an alternative lower carbon emission fuel and is a blend of propane and butane. Biopropane is a drop-in replacement for LPG and is a renewable net zero carbon emission fuel. CNG is composed primarily of methane and is another alternative lower carbon emission fuel. Biomethane is a drop-in replacement for CNG and is a renewable net zero carbon emission fuel.

Our bi-fuel evolution system is available now to evolve LEVC TXs so they can adopt these lower cost and lower carbon emission alternative fuels as well as lower cost and net zero carbon emission

renewable fuels.

LEVC TXs licensed by Birmingham City Council are permitted to adopt our bi-fuel evolution system and it is available now to adopt the use of LPG or biopropane fuels. This is available for both customer vehicles already licensed for use in Birmingham and also for rental taxis provided to Birmingham drivers by HP Taxi. We’re also in discussions with numerous other Licensing Authorities across the UK and hope to announce the availability of our bi-fuel evolution systems in other regions soon. We’re also working with LPG, biopropane, CNG and biomethane suppliers to expand the refuelling infrastructure in parallel to offering our bi-fuel evolution systems.

But these aren’t the only fuels than can be adopted for the range extender engine.

We have also previously presented further bi-fuel evolution concepts adopting hydrogen, hythane and ammonia. We are now presenting a further 3 bi-fuel concepts and presenting all 10 alternative and renewable fuel concepts together.

Internal combustion engines don’t need to use fossil fuels. In fact, the internal combustion engine pre-dates the petroleum industry and early internal combustion engines used fuels which would now be called renewable fuels or biofuels e.g. plant based oils and derived alcohol products. The current political, legislative and environmental focus on lowering carbon or carbon dioxide emissions in all sectors of society and industry doesn’t actually require banning or moving away from using internal combustion engines. Instead, to reduce or eliminate net carbon dioxide emissions, you just need to change the fuel the engine uses! Non-carbon dioxide emissions can be eliminated through use of modern advanced exhaust after treatment systems. A further concept we are also presenting takes advantage of the traction battery of the range extender LEVC TX to heat the after treatment system prior to and during a cold start and during lower load engine operation, improving and maximising after treatment performance.

All of the 10 alternative and renewable fuels presented here can be made locally and sustainably within the country that the vehicles operate. Local production eliminates long distance transportation costs and adds security to the supply, independent of geopolitical factors. This logic applies to the internal combustion engine too which has been made worldwide in numerous locations for decades.

This is in contrast to the current battery manufacturing industry which is concentrated in a few global locations for both battery material processing and battery production. The EU and US have no domestic battery material or battery production industries. The geopolitical risk should not be overlooked of them, effectively relying on certain global regions for all their battery production. Alternative and renewable fuels used in internal combustion engines are thus a robust alternative to an otherwise planned battery EV only future for vehicles as both the internal combustion engines and renewable fuels can be made locally and globally.