When you step onto the show floor at The Work Truck Show 2020, you may ask yourself – who on earth brought a Ford Mustang to a truck show? And why?

Using the Mustang Lithium to show their capabilities of both designing custom energy storage solutions and supplying off-the-shelf standard battery packs, Webasto set the stage for its  CV Standard Battery System in North America. The system brings the best of both worlds of high-performance and custom solutions for the future of electric commercial vehicles.

Although the Mustang is fully electric, it still houses a 6-speed manual transmission – vertically integrating into the automotive e-mobility space.

“Webasto is committed to further expanding our product offering in the e-Mobility segment. This vehicle serves as a display of our capabilities, presenting our battery solutions and high-voltage heater (HVH) systems in a unique setting. It pushes the limits of electric performance and brings a new perspective to the future of electromobility. Webasto brings the same passion, quality and innovation that was put into the Mustang prototype to our commercial vehicle solutions,” said Webasto's Director of Marketing, Josh Lupu.

Demonstrating Expertise & Scalability

The Mustang is intended to show fleets how Webasto used its combined expertise in the automotive industry and system supplier for complex technical solutions to develop a high-voltage battery system suited for commercial vehicles.

“Our CV Standard Battery System is a plug-and-play solution and can easily be scaled from 35 kWh to 350 kWh to fit a wide array of vehicle applications. The system is robust and engineered to live up to the rigors of commercial vehicle duty cycles,” Lupu explained.

Why go modular? The modular concept is more of a benefit for manufacturers, upfitters, and body builders.

“The modular concept allows these groups to choose the number of packs that best fits their application without high development costs. Range, energy, and power needs to be factored in. That’s beauty of the modular system – whether it’s a last mile delivery vehicle, work truck or passenger van – the batteries, combined with the vehicle interface box (master BMS and power distribution box) make spec’ing the application painless,” Lupu said.

Thermal management is crucial for battery health and life. Webasto’s thermal management solutions heat and cool the batteries to keep them in the safe operating range.

An added benefit: the CV Standard Battery System is designed for scalability.

“Each battery pack provides 35 kWh of energy, and up to 10 packs can be used for a combined 350 kWh. The standard battery system can be configured for 400V and 800V version and offers a plug-and-play style setup,” Lupu concluded.

Check out the Mustang and new modular battery system ideal for commercial vehicle applications at Booth #641 at The Work Truck Show 2020, held March 3-6 in Indianapolis.