Good Design Award for Unicla eDrive

Unicla celebrated its 60th anniversary with a prestigious win: An Australian Good Design Award for its innovative eDrive electric compressor.

The 80-member jury was impressed by the eDrive’s forward-thinking design, which represents a significant advancement in the industry. Unicla director  Mark Mitchell received the award at a ceremony in Sydney on September 20.

The eDrive compressor, dubbed during its development as the “Midnight Technician Project” by Mitchell, is designed to revolutionise the way technicians work, particularly in emergency situations.

“The name was introduced in my anniversary book Unicla and the Midnight Technician, where we revealed the challenges and needs that technicians faced when typically called out in the middle of the night to get a system working again,” he explained. 

“Critical examples are multi-million dollar mining assets that cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour when not working, or a fully loaded freight train with a valuable grain cargo.

“A locomotive cabin is an extremely hot place for drivers, so operational air conditioning is essential to keep trains running. All of our design decisions are driven by the needs of the midnight technician.” 

The eDrive is specifically designed for high-performance mobile air conditioning and refrigeration systems, specifically for industries relying on electrical power, such as electric buses and rail.

It allows for direct communication between technicians and the machine through the Unicla eConnect portal.

This innovative feature enables technicians to diagnose issues before even leaving the workshop.

Data is relayed online and can also be accessed through on-board log files via a USB connection, allowing for a faster and more efficient solution to any operational issues.

Unicla claims that its eDrive meets the “holy grail of performance,” making it almost impossible to fail. By monitoring pressures, temperatures, and superheat, the eDrive can pinpoint failures in the entire system.

This innovative technology is the culmination of decades of research and development, drawing upon Unicla’s expertise in swashplate technology.

“We made a commitment to technicians that our compressor would never actually fail,” Mitchell said.

“With our new technology, the compressor manages itself within a pre-determined set of safety parameters implemented to suit the air conditioning or refrigeration system.”

“Celebrating our 60th anniversary as a brand, and winning the Australian Good Design Award in the same month, we joked that it had taken Unicla 60 years to get here,” said Mitchell.

“But the joke is partly true. Our eDrive technology is a dedicated blend of technology and previous patents held by us over many years. We have been a leader in swashplate technology at a number of levels for many years.

“In our eDrive we used lots of good stuff that we are well known for which we blended with some new secrets, and is now part of the patents we have just filed in China, Europe and the USA. The result is a compressor with enhanced isentropic efficiency, long life, and high performance in hot ambient conditions.”

Highlighting the direct benefits of the eDrive, Mitchell explains: “As we roll our new eDrive compressors this month in systems operating in the harsh conditions of mining machines and rail locomotives, we are already proving these benefits to the technicians working on these systems, and to the owners and end users who expect to see the monetary results of enhanced performance and zero failure.

“From this perspective, our good design is putting its credentials where it counts.”

By prioritising real-world impact and lasting value, Unicla’s eDrive showcases the power of design in creating lasting solutions.

The Australian Good Design Awards, established in 1958, are the country’s most prestigious international accolade for design and innovation.

Good Design Australia managing director Rachel Wye said: “The awards reflect the profound ripple effects that exceptional design can have on people, place and planet.”