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Video by Oswaldo Delacruz

Charging Into A Greener Future

Air Force Research Laboratory

July 1, 2015 | 4:43

Reducing energy costs is a common goal of airports, factories and distribution centers. Electric ground support vehicles have helped. However, conventional recharging of these vehicles takes hours and requires removal of the battery packs to a charging room, mitigating the time and cost savings.

AeroVironment, a pioneer in electric vehicles, addressed this problem by developing a rapid battery charging system. Called PosiCharge, the system allows multiple battery packs to be recharged in-vehicle at a station in as little as 10 minutes. PosiCharge now powers over 3,500 vehicles in the nation’s airports, keeping them operating 24 hours a day every day, and more than 10,000 vehicles in factories and distribution centers, resulting in millions of dollars in energy cost savings.

The rapid battery charging technology is an example of the impact of the U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Program, which funds R&D by small businesses / cooperative R&D projects with small businesses and non-profit U.S. research institutions. The Air Force SBIR / STTR program focuses on projects and services with the potential to develop into a product for military or commercial sectors.

From 2000-2013, the Air Force invested nearly $4 billion in these R&D projects. AeroVironment received funding during this period to develop the PosiCharge rapid battery charging system. This is AeroVironment’s story.