UQM Technologies has announced a new 125kW permanent magnet electric motor system. The motor system is developed specifically designed for automotive applications. The 125kW rating is the peak power output while continuous power output is 60kW. The 11 inch diameter motor has a peak torque production of 221lb-ft with a continuous 118lb-ft rating. UQM developed the motor for use in subcompact cars with electric drive. The packaging has been optimized for those cars that can't fit the UQM's existing 150kW motor while still providing good performance. The new motor only weighs 90lbs. UQM was originally tapped to be the motor supplier Phoenix Motor Cars SUT and SUV. In the second half of 2007, Phoenix decided to re-engineer their vehicles and switched from a rear to front wheel drive configuration with a different motor supplier. So far we're not aware of any manufacturers that have selected UQM for a production EV application.

[Source: UQM Technologies]

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.

One company we haven't been hearing too much from of late is Phoenix Motorcars. They made a pretty big splash in 2006 around the same time that Tesla launched and they've turned up at all the usual conferences and events with prototypes of their electric pickup truck. They grabbed a lot of attention for their plans to use Altairnano's lithium titanate batteries with their potential for 10-minute quick charges.

Subsequently, some doubts began to surface about the viability of the company's business plan due to the high cost of producing their vehicles and the reliance on selling clean air credits to fund operations. When the company launched they said that they would start off by supplying their trucks to fleet customers such as PG&E. We got word from a reader last week that he had received an e-mail from Phoenix indicating they were ready to start taking some orders from retail customers for their sport utility truck and SUV. We decided to call up Phoenix and get the full scoop which you can find after the jump.