Proterra Standardizes on Electrical Systems Design and Wire Harness Engineering Tools from Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ:MENT) today 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.

Proterra standardizes on Mentor Graphics software for electrical systems design of zero emission vehicles (Photo: Business Wire)

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 speed the design time and automate many steps in the design process.”

Adam Fowlkes, engineering manager at Proterra, will be speaking about the challenges in the industry and also about Proterra electrical systems design and wire harness engineering processes on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at the Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) in Dearborn, Michigan. For more information, visit www.mentor.com/IESF.

About Proterra

With manufacturing in Greenville, S.C., Proterra is a leader in the clean technology and clean energy space, designing and manufacturing heavy-duty electric drive systems, energy storage systems, vehicle control systems, transit buses and fast-charging stations. Proterra’s systems are scalable to commercial buses of all sizes. Its ground-up designs have led to the EcoRide™, the world’s first full-size, on-route charge battery-electric transit bus. In 2011, Proterra’s EcoRide™ became the first heavy-duty electric transit bus ever to complete challenging federally required durability and reliability testing at the Bus Research and Testing Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, demonstrating best in class energy efficiency and noise levels. For more information on Proterra and its technology, please visit: www.proterra.com.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues in the last fiscal year of about $1,090 million. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. World Wide Web site: http://www.mentor.com/.

(Mentor Graphics and VeSys are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.)

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