Lightning Hybrids names Ross MacKerron director of International Business Development based in U.K.
Monday November 21, 2016 0 comments
LOVELAND -- Loveland-based Lightning Hybrids announced Ross MacKerron has joined Lightning Hybrids International (LHI) as director of International Business Development based in the United Kingdom.
MacKerron will lead the international market and business development efforts for LHI primarily in the UK and European markets. His responsibilities will include working with truck and bus fleets, OEMs and distribution partners to help them meet their sustainability goals.
MacKerron also will provide commercial support for current customer projects in the UK and will work out of LHI’s Midlands office in Nuneaton, England.
“Ross is a passionate advocate of low-emissions drivetrains and also a self-confessed ‘petrol head’ who is as happy working under a vehicle as he is negotiating around a boardroom table,” said David Brosky, Lightning Hybrids VP for sales.
“His expertise with green technologies and knowledge of the European market is a tremendous asset for our team.”
MacKerron has more than 25 years of motor industry experience and has worked previously in operational management roles with Honda, Ford Motor Company and General Motors.
As international sales manager for The London Taxi Company, he was responsible for significantly growing sales of the iconic “London Black Cab” into European markets and was the project manager who developed a fully electric model, taxis which continue to operate on the streets of Amsterdam today.
In his most recent role, Ross led the automotive business development efforts for the internationally respected Transport Research Laboratory based in Wokingham, England.
“Lightning Hybrids is a company on a roll.” MacKerron said. “I’m really excited about helping fleets throughout Europe meet their sustainability goals whilst also helping them to improve their bottom line – I’m passionate about both.”
“Our hydraulic-hybrid product provides 15 to 35 percent improvements in fuel efficiency, and in diesel-powered vehicles, a 50 percent reduction in NOx, the primary ingredient of smog,” Ross added.
“Products like ours will have a great impact on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and on helping government agencies and companies to meet their sustainability goals.”
Lightning Hybrids opened its UK office in the spring of 2015. At that time, its first hybrid systems went on the road in two large local fleets.
The designer and manufacturer of hybrid systems is backed by Castrol innoVentures, Castrol’s innovation arm.
Performance and innovation that respect the environment are key drivers for our company, said Jon Salkeld, technology director for Castrol innoVentures.
“Supporting innovative automotive research and manufacturing companies like Lightning Hybrids is an important aspect of our future -- nurturing the next generation of engineering that supports greater fuel efficiency and helping us define future products.”
In addition to the UK, Lightning Hybrids has systems in urban fleets of buses and trucks in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and India.
Last month, United Parcel Service (UPS) placed 50 Lightning Hybrids’ units in its Chicago fleet in time for the holiday rush.
The ERS (Energy Recovery System) from Lightning Hybrids is a patented, parallel hydraulic hybrid system that has no electric batteries. Instead, it applies a hydraulic system to the driveline of a vehicle to regenerate braking energy.
Hydraulic pumps and a lightweight accumulator brake the vehicle, store the braking energy, and then use that stored energy to provide power to the wheels. In doing so, fuel is saved and harmful emissions are reduced.
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