First battery-electric road unit to debut

摘要

NORTH AMERICA'S FIRST HEAVY-HAUL, battery-electric road locomotive is scheduled to be delivered in late 2020 and begin testing in California in 2021. Wabtec has begun construction of the "FLX Drive" locomotive. The plan is to pair it with existing diesels to create a hybrid consist, able to run on diesel or electric power, or a combination of the two. The initial test will be on a 350-mile stretch of BNSF Railway between Stockton and Barstow, Calif. That will be the test site because about half of the more than $30-million cost of developing the first locomotive will come from a grant from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Wabtec estimates that the introduction of the battery-electric locomotive will bring fuel savings of 10% to 15% to the entire consist.