The Port of Los Angeles is a testing ground for alternative powertrains, mostly LNG trucks and, well, LNG trucks. But battery-powered heavy duty vehicles are not being left out of picture, with the Port and the South Coast Air Quality Management District testing a very, very big electric truck. This behemoth can pull 60,000 pounds of cargo, go 40mph, and has a 60 mile range. It can also recharge in "a few hours," according to a video produced by the Port. The prototype truck was built for around $527,000 starting in 2007, and in April 2008 the Los Angeles Harbor Commission approved the production of 20 electric yard trucks. Funds for five trucks that would drive a bit farther, over-the-road electric trucks, were also approved. If the entire Port fleet were converted to electric-drive, then at least 2m short range trips a year could be powered by electrons instead of diesel.

Using battery-powered trucks at the port is almost the perfect application of EV technology. Current batteries are heavy, but who cares when the truck is this big? EVs have that whole range limit issue, but in the confines of the port, it's no big whoop. And, considering that the trucks these EVs could replace are diesels (which I'll assume are often idling and getting 0mpg as they are loaded and unloaded), the zero-emission feature is very welcome.

See the video of the truck in action after the break.

click to enlarge

We first heard about the ZeroTruck, a Class 4 delivery truck powered by nothing but good old electrons, towards the end of April. Electrorides, Inc. brought the prototype ZeroTruck to the AFVI Expo in Las Vegas this week, trying to get fleet operators to sign up for an upcoming national tour the truck will make later this summer to show off its capabilities.

Tedd Abramson, the president and CEO of Electrorides, Inc., spoke to AutoblogGreen about the ZeroTruck and said that the truck will save fleets money not only at the pump but also in the back room, where maintenance billing is done. Down time at the fueling station is also reduced, so there are cost savings on top of the lower price for the energy needed to move the truck.

The ZeroTruck is a 2008 Isuzu N Series chassis converted to run on batteries. The vehicles uses a lithium polymer battery pack that offers a 100-mile range. The 14-foot truck offers very flexible options for the bed and, since Isuzu chassis makes up around 78 percent of the market, fleet operators are very familiar with what these options are, how the vehicle operates, and how it holds up in the field.

All of this does not come cheap. Abramson said that the ZeroTruck will have a cost premium of just over $100,000 a compared to the standard diesel version. All those cost savings, Abramson said, mean that the premium should be recouped in five years. Abramson said he expects the vehicle to offer about ten years of operation. If everything checks out, then that cost premium won't be a problem at all. We'll have to wait and see how many fleet operators pull the trigger on this truck to see if they believe the company's claims are accurate. Note: Electrorides gave AutoblogGreen permission to post the slides used during the company's presentation at the Expo. You can find them in the gallery below.

Listen to Abramson (10 min):

Electrorides Inc., a company based in California, will debut the ZeroTruck, an all-electric medium duty truck, at the 2008 AFVI National Conference and Expo in Las Vegas in mid-May. The ZeroTruck can go 100 miles per charge using an EIG lithium polymer battery pack and a UQM brushless permanent magnet elecgtric motor. The highway-speed truck can capture energy through regenerative braking and has an on-board charger to suck power from the grid. The first ZeroTrucks will be released in the Los Angeles area later this year - deliveries should start in August - with a national roll-out planned for 2009. More details after the jump.

The ZeroTruck is a converted Isuzu N Series and Greentechmedia.com says that the pure EV version will be joined by a series-hybrid version that uses a modified diesel engine that can burn biodiesel or pure veggie oil. Electrorides has invited AutoblogGreen to test drive the ZeroTruck at the AFVI show, so we'll have a much better idea about what this truck is about in a few weeks.

It's been a month since we last wrote about Miles Automotive. Most of our recent coverage of the electric car company has revolved around the sounds-too-good-too-be-true XS500, a highway speed all-electric sedan that is - supposedly - about a year away. Now we have something new from Miles to write about. The 2008 Production Model MILES ZX40ST Work Truck, which was introduced today at the Green California Summit in Sacramento.

The ZX40ST (boy, that rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) is a low speed electric vehicle (25 mph top speed) that uses six lead acid batteries (rated for 25,000 miles) and a brushless AC motor to go 50-60 miles per charge. It takes 4-6 hours to charge from 50 percent to full from a standard home outlet (so, I'll assume it takes about double that to charge from near empty?). Watch out, pedestrians, as this little guy can scoot from 0-20 mph in five seconds. These may not be spectacular numbers, but for what a vehicle like this is supposed to do, I'd say they're quite sufficient. Miles has announced that it is making 200 ZX40STs a month and is sold out through June. The truck costs $18,400.
The truck will be on display at the Sacramento Convention Center through tomorrow. See more after the break.

Phoenix Motorcars, the company behind the much-anticipated electric SUT with the SsangYong body and Altairnano battery has given their website a fresh look in anticipation of increased traffic. Set to finally begin building their vehicles for fleet customers and take a few retail orders, the company from Ontario, California has rolled out the welcome map with a fresh set of pixels and features.

The feature I was just having fun with was the savings calculator. You tell them the cost of the vehicle you're thinking of buying, it's gas mileage, and a few other variables and POW!, they give you a graph that shows you how long it will take to get some serious return on your investment. If you like the results you can sign up to reserve one of these for yourself.

Bonus video: For a short video of their plant and a bit of a test drive, hit the jump.


[Source: Phoenix Motorcars / YouTube]

Since the first moment I laid eyes on it, I've thought the Modec electric truck was a thing of beauty. A little more aerodynamic than its freight hauling frères and a whole lot more quiet. Need I mention the lack of diesel smoke? I thought not. After reading all the specs and mulling it over for about 10 seconds it occurred to me that this vehicle would look great in UPS brown. Sure enough, it does.

According to BigLorryBlog, the company has begun putting the Modec (they really do need a catchy model name) through its paces within the London Low Emission Zone. So what does UPS think about this big brown truck? "The quiet, carbon-neutral vehicle is the first of its kind to effectively harness the power of modern, high energy batteries to meet the medium range, high performance requirements of hard working, urban delivery vehicles." I think, as with Tesco, they like it, they like it!

[Source: BigLorryBlog via TNN via Green Car Congress]

So, how is the EV-building business going? Just fine, if you ask any of the executives over at the Tanfield Group PLC. Expecting to surpass the £120 million mark in sales this year, the owner of the worlds oldest electric vehicle manufacturer, Smith EV, is "close to signing a deal on a new North-East factory" according to a story in today's edition of The Northern Echo. With this expansion they also expect to hire another 300 people. The company is going to need the extra employees and production capacity if it's going to achieve its goal of building 3,000 trucks in the UK and the U.S. in 2009. It's current facility, located in Washington, can only churn out 1,500 a year and they also need a bit of space to build some of their other products.

You can't build trucks if you don't have the parts, so to that end, an order to Enova for 4,000 of their 90kW and 120kW electric drive components has been announced. The Smith Newton (pictured above) is 7.5 ton vehicle and will be powered by the 120kw drive system while its little brother, the Edison, will be fitted with a 90kw drive train. Delivery of these essential bits has already begun.


Related:

• EVS23: The green machine - Smith Electric Truck comes to America
• Smith EV announces electric truck factory for the US
• Smith Electric Vehicles, Enova partner up for zero-emission van, truck

[Source: The Northern Echo / Enova via Green Car Congress]

Well, here's at least one neat vehicle that Europeans currently have that Americans will soon be able to buy: the Modec all-electric truck. You might be familiar with the Modec from our previous posts (see below) but the short story is that this is a delivery van specifically designed for modern city parcel delivery. You can see in the photo above and in the gallery below that the Modec does not have any doors on the side of the cab. Instead, the driver steps out the back of the cab, grabs the package, and can then exit the van on whichever side of the road is closer to the delivery location and/or safer. Smart.

I spoke with Lord Jamie Borwick, chairman and founder of Modec, and Catherine Hutt, Modec's marketing and sales coordinator (listen here, 13 min, 9 MB) about the truck. "We are battery agnostic," Borwick told me, and explained that with the self-contained battery packs that the truck uses, future batteries can be easily swapped into the powertrain. Currently, the batteries themselves weigh a ton, but in three or five years lighter or more powerful batteries can be used to give upgraded performance. The Modec truck is capable of a 50 mph top speed using either Zebra batteries (which use sodium nickel chloride chemistry) or lithium ion. The cost for these trucks starts at £30,000 (around $60,000) and the battery is leased to the buyer. The way Borwick described it, it's just like when you buy an ICE - you don't buy all the diesel fuel you'll ever use up front. Of course, it's not like Modec will give you free electricity as part of the battery lease, but that's another issue. Cost for the U.S. version is not yet set, and neither is a delivery date.

Related:

• Modec to start EV van exports to the Continent
• Meet the MODEC: Electric Delivery Van

Smith EV, which makes delivery vans and trucks in the UK and Europe, has finally announced its plans for the US: Up to 10,000 EV trucks will be built in a facility that "could be sited anywhere in North America, would require up to a 300 acre site, including a 500,000sq ft assembly facility, test track and space for rolling stock. It would create at least 500 jobs."

Smith already has a small plant in Fresno, CA, which can produce 1,000 EV trucks per year, as well as another factory in the UK with an output of 1,500 vehicles. Smith EV plans a new facility in the UK for European customers.

Smith makes a range of highway-capable EVs, from 7,000lbs vans to 25,000lbs trucks. With a top speed of 50mph, and a range on one lithium-ion battery charge of up to 150 miles. The company claims they are suitable for deployment in urban delivery applications.

(Editor's note: stay tuned for an interview with Smith EV direct from EVS23 in Anaheim)

Related:

• TNT courier company buys two Smith EV trucks for Rotterdam delivery
• Smith Electric Vehicles, Enova partner up for zero-emission van, truck

[Source: Smith EV]

The Boshart Tersus may look like the Phoenix SUT, but it certainly doesn't quack like a Phoenix SUT. Both of these unusual electric trucks are built from the same Ssanyong body, but are totally different under the hood. Well, not completely. Boshart Engineering actually did some engineering work for Phoenix, and decided that there was room in the market for another, um, can't-miss-the-styling electric truck. The difference? This one is an NEV.

The Tersus is not just any low-speed electric vehicle. This one is designed for off-road use, and exclusively on closed campus, privately-owned land (that's how the brochure phrases it). The battery and range specifications for the Tersus are pretty similar to the numbers for a Zenn or Miles NEV. To wit, a maximum speed of 25 mph, full charge in six hours (or two, with a quick charger). The big difference is the price: these trucks cost almost $30,000. With a 72-volt battery system, a 28 kW AC induction drive motor and 220 Ah (C/5) battery capacity, you're paying for a payload capacity of 1,000 pounds and the ability to seat four comfortably. I don't think Boshart has made a mistake in developing this truck, but we're certainly seeing green vehicles being developed for some incredibly specific groups of consumers these days.