The Terzo Power Engineering team has done years of durability and validation testing on the Hydrapulse EHSU product line, but nothing done in a controlled lab environment can compare to the punishment the unit will go through in Off-road Desert racing. The King of the Hammers is an Off-Road Desert race that takes place on public lands in Johnson Valley, California. The first official race took place in 2008 and included just 50 drivers and no spectators, the event has since grown to include over 530 teams, 80,000 fans in person, and 2 million viewers online. The Event now includes classes for all types of vehicles from Motorcycles and UTV’s, to factory backed purpose built racecars and home garage built vehicles; and for the first year will now include an Ultra 4 Electric Vehicle Class.
Competing in an event like this with an electric vehicle presents several unique problems to be solved, one of which is the steering system. A traditional off-road truck that would race in an event like this is going to use an engine driven hydraulic pump to supply power steering for the front wheels and in some cases 4 wheel steering system. When you remove the engine you also remove the drive source for this hydraulic pump, in lighter duty applications this isn’t a problem, advancements in electro-mechanical steering systems removes the need for hydraulics at all, but in harsh applications like the King of the Hammers there’s no replacement for the power density and ability to absorb shock loads that hydraulic systems provide.
The Terzo Power Systems High Voltage Electro-Hydraulic Steering Unit is built around solving this problem for the commercial electric vehicle market, and seems to be a perfect fit for this application as well. The Hydrapulse EHSU-1 used in the Vehicles pictured below includes a brushless DC motor with an integrated high voltage inverter that accepts 300 to 800VDC, and an integrated hydraulic pump. This compact package simplifies the installation process and reduces the amount of external connection and sealing surfaces that could be potential failure points during an event like King of the Hammers. Everyone at Terzo Power Systems is excited to get the product they’ve been working on for so many years out at such a large public event and hopes to support the EV Class at KOH and other events like this in any way possible as it grows in the coming years.
