Proterra standardizes on electrical systems design

WILSONVILLE, USA: Mentor Graphics Corp. announced that the leading provider of zero-emission commercial transit solutions, Proterra Inc., has standardized on the Mentor Graphics VeSys tools for its electrical systems design and manufacture of wire harnesses. Proterra will be using the VeSys tools to help design and manufacture heavy-duty, electric drive systems, energy storage systems, vehicle control systems, transit buses, and the world's first all-electric, fast-charge transit bus.

The VeSys tools are a suite of wiring and harness design software tools optimized for rapid deployment and low IT footprint. Proterra is standardizing on both the VeSys Design and VeSys Harness tools, enabling wiring design data to flow seamlessly into the associated harness designs and thereby reducing effort and minimizing the risk of errors.

"To stay ahead of our competition, we needed to introduce new levels of electrical integration and a design flexibility we have never seen before. VeSys is helping us to achieve that," said Adam Fowlkes, engineering manager at Proterra. "We were particularly impressed with the ease of use and the high level of functionality, flexibility and automation demonstrated by VeSys. Benefits of the software include intelligent schematics and harness designs, bill of materials creation, wire length calculations, reporting and built-in error proofing."

"Buses have a very demanding duty cycle and therefore require high-quality engineering and design change capabilities. VeSys allows Proterra to design extremely robust electrical/electronic systems that exceed customers' requirements," said Nick Smith, marketing director of the Integrated Electrical Systems Division of Mentor Graphics. "VeSys is both flexible and easily adaptable to changing future needs, as well as being highly productive. In particular, the automated part selector and manufacturing report generation capabilities speeds the design time and automates many steps in the design process."