DIU Wants to Cure Services’ Electric Vehicle Range Anxiety

DIU Wants to Cure Services’ Electric Vehicle Range Anxiety

Oshkosh Defense photo

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia — On the road to full tactical vehicle electrification, one obstacle looms above the rest: the impracticality of deployed charging stations large enough to “fuel” a big combat vehicle fast and get it back in the fight.

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit wants to fund a stop-gap solution: a “Tactical Range Extender Enhancer” that will convert jet fuel to high-voltage direct current power and link up to electrified ground vehicles to give them a rapid charge either stationary or on the go.

DIU first posted its solicitation for a commercial range-extending device in summer 2023, calling for responses by August. Now, DIU is in the process of down-selecting from an undisclosed number of respondents, energy portfolio director Andrew Higier told National Defense. While the form of the extender device is still up for decision, the goal is to deliver the Army and Marine Corps a product compatible with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and similar platforms that will push back their “range anxiety” — the fear of running out of charge with no nearby power supply, he said.

“Whether it’s a fossil fuel-powered generator that can charge the batteries, or whether it’s literally a motor that straps on, if they run out of charge, they can still get to wherever they need to go,” Higier said. How much these motors or generators will need to push out vehicle range to meet DIU’s criteria has not been specified.

Range extenders, which have been around as a commercial concept for more than two decades, act as backstop generators, kicking in to provide power when a vehicle battery is depleted. Defense contractors have already begun promoting military concept vehicles including range-extending or enhancing technology, such as GM Defense’s Electric Military Concept Vehicle, which can be configured to include an integrated diesel generator.

Dean McGrew, branch chief for Powertrain Electrification in the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, in an interview said with range extenders, “We’re really kicking the can on these huge megawatt charging stations down the road quite a ways.”

Range extenders will continue to be an asset, McGrew added, even after the Army achieves its ambitious 2050 goal of fielding fully electric tactical vehicles with the accompanying charging infrastructure to sustain them downrange. “We are investing quite a bit into fast mobile charging capability,” he said. ND

Topics: Land Forces