Antonov Develops 2-Speed Alternator for Military Vehicles

British transmission specialist Antonov announced today it has expanded its commercial engineering activities, with several projects aimed at making it a high volume manufacturer. Aside from working on a transmission for EVs that will feature in the Jaguar Limo-Green research project, the company has secured a 2-speed heavy-duty alternator project and intends to bring the TX-6 automatic gearbox into series production in China.

“Our initiative a year ago to actively offer commercial engineering services using a dedicated team has helped secure both UK contracts and there are more projects in the pipeline,” said chief commercial officer Simon Roberts.

“As a result we have substantially increased the number of employees, particularly of highly qualified engineers, and our headcount of 45 has never been higher.  When we revised our business strategy, we decided to carefully consider all research and development activities and assess the potential opportunities for Antonov to manufacture product.”

The engineering contract involving the development of a 2-speed alternator for military vehicle applications has been awarded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), and Antonov took it in partnership with Prestolite Electric.

The alternator will provide full electronic control of the speed change through an active clutch mechanism. “With two speeds available, the alternator can match the output of a larger and more expensive single-speed alternator, and it also has the potential of replacing, again at much lower cost, two or more alternators that are often required for heavy-duty vehicle applications,” a company statement reads.