Battery-powered all-electric and/or hybrid locomotive and related locomotive and train configurations

A locomotive comprising:

• a first locomotive platform carrying no internal combustion engine on board;
• a first battery assembly, carried on the first locomotive platform, including one or more strings of batteries;
• a second locomotive platform, in tandem with the first locomotive platform, carrying no internal combustion engine on board;
• a second battery assembly, carried on the second locomotive platform, including one or more strings of batteries;
• a plurality of traction motors powered by the first and/or the second battery assemblies to drive the first and the second locomotive platforms;
• a DC bus coupling the first and the second battery assemblies to the plurality of traction motors;
• a battery management system that monitors and equalizes the batteries to maintain a desired state of charge (SOC) and depth of discharge (DOD) for each battery;
• a motor control circuitry in cooperation with the battery management system to draw currents, within throttle-dependent limits, from the battery assembly to drive the plurality of traction motors;
• a brake system that controls a regenerative braking mechanism to recover brake energy to recharge the battery assembly;
• and
• a look-ahead system that receives spatial data, the look-ahead system coupled to the battery management system and brake system;
• wherein the brake system controls the locomotive's braking activity based on the look-ahead data and battery management system data.

A train comprising:

• two or more battery-powered, all-electric locomotives in coordination with one another, each of the two or more battery-powered, all-electric locomotives comprising:
• a locomotive platform carrying no internal combustion engine on board;
• a battery assembly including one or more strings of batteries;
• a plurality of traction motors that can be powered by the battery assemblies of the two or more locomotives to drive the locomotive, the plurality of traction motors receiving no power supplied from any power source external to the train during operation;
• a DC bus coupling the battery assembly to the plurality of traction motors;
• a battery management system that monitors and equalizes the batteries to maintain a desired state of charge (SOC) and depth of discharge (DOD) for each battery;
• a motor control circuitry in cooperation with the battery management system to draw currents, within throttle-dependent limits, from the battery assembly to drive the plurality of traction motors;
• a brake system that controls a regenerative braking mechanism to recover brake energy to recharge the battery assembly;
• and
• a look-ahead system that receives spatial data, the look-ahead system coupled to the battery management system and brake system;
• wherein the brake system controls the locomotive's braking activity based on the look-ahead data and battery management system data.

A train comprising:

• at least one diesel-electric locomotive, each of the at least one diesel-electric locomotive comprising:
• one or more diesel engines driving an electric generator, and
• a first plurality of traction motors powered by the one or more diesel engines through the electric generator;
• at least one all-electric locomotive coupled with the at least one diesel-electric locomotive, each of the at least one all-electric locomotive comprising:
• a locomotive platform carrying no internal combustion engine on board,
• a battery assembly including one or more strings of batteries,
• a second plurality of traction motors powered exclusively by the battery assembly to drive the locomotive platform, the second plurality of traction motors receiving no power supplied from any power source external to the train during operation,
• a DC bus coupling the battery assembly to the second plurality of traction motors, and
• a battery management system that monitors and equalizes the batteries to maintain a desired state of charge (SOC) and depth of discharge (DOD) for each battery;
• a motor control circuitry in cooperation with the battery management system to draw currents, within throttle-dependent limits, from the battery assembly to drive the plurality of traction motors;
• a brake system having a regenerative braking mechanism to recover brake energy from the first and/or the second plurality of traction motors to recharge the battery assembly;
• and
• a look-ahead system that receives spatial data, the look-ahead system coupled to the battery management system and brake system;
• wherein the brake system controls the locomotive's braking activity based on the look-ahead data and battery management system data.