Calgary plant the ‘brains’ behind new innovation for more cost efficient EVs

A Calgary manufacturing facility has developed a new innovation it hopes will make electric vehicles more efficient for companies and consumers.

A Calgary manufacturing plant is out with an innovation it hopes will help drive savings for electric vehicle (EV) users.

Exro Technologies is celebrating the start of a production milestone, showcasing what it calls its “commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology in the electric vehicle industry and clean tech space.”

“We’re reshaping the way the world consumes energy,” Exro CEO Sue Ozdemir told a crowd Wednesday morning.

The company is doing that through a new inverter.

“When you think about an electric vehicle — so anything on land with wheels — there’s a brain inside,” she said. “We call that brain an inverter. What the inverter does is convert the energy from the battery to the motor to make the wheels turn.

“We’ve created a new brain for vehicles, a new ability to make energy consumption efficient.

“Energy efficiency in vehicles is what matters. So basically, you want that vehicle to go farther on your single charge and you do that through the brain.”

The innovation is produced in what Exro believes is Canada’s first automotive clean tech room. Ozdemir and her team acknowledged that may come as a surprise to many, largely thanks Alberta’s oil and gas reputation.