Electric Commercial Vehicles Gaining Popularity
The demand for electric passenger cars is still rising. Renault just produced its 50,00th Zoe electric car. More and more commercial vehicles are slowly going electric. Motiv Power Systems, a California electric powertrain manufacturer, made the first electric school bus in America, and also produce other electric commercial vehicles including delivery trucks and refuse trucks.
Motiv have recently partnered with Creative Bus Sales to produce a new zero-emission school bus built on a Ford F59 Chassis with a Motiv all-electric powertrain and a Starcraft body. The Starcraft eQuest XL can hold up to 48 passengers, charges to 50 percent within 2 hours, and has a range of up to 85 miles.
“Developing more options for all-electric school buses offers more opportunities for school districts to reduce harmful pollutants near children who are especially vulnerable to health impacts from diesel emissions,” said Motiv founder and CEO Jim Castelaz in a press release. “We’re thrilled to be working with Creative Bus Sales to help improve conditions for students’ health, save districts on fuel costs, and support California’s environmental goals.”
The creation of the Starcraft eQuest XL allows Motiv to collaborate with Green Alternative Systems (GAS), a fleet conversion company.
“After making our mark with compressed natural gas upfits, we are thrilled to be able to collaborate with Motiv and offer an all-electric option to our customers,” said Mark Matijevich, General Manager of GAS.
Other companies are also producing powertrains for electric mass transit vehicles worldwide.
California powertrain manufacturer Wrightspeed just announced a US $30M deal with New Zealand urban bus service operator NZ Bus. Wrightspeed will provide its award winning powertrain The Route 500 to NZ Bus.
New Zealand has 75% of its electricity sourced from clean energy, so this partnership comes as no surprise. However, it is the country’s first step in transitioning public transportation fleets to electric powered vehicles.
“This partnership with NZ Bus is our first international order, which is significant in a country where fuel costs today are close to 3x what they are in the U.S.,” said Ian Wright, CEO and Founder of Wrightspeed in a press release. “New Zealand’s commercial fleets have been challenged by some of the most rigorous road conditions and some of the highest global fuel costs. Our technology offers an ideal and economically attractive match for these conditions and is contributing a proven solution to the country’s emerging clean transportation grid.”
Ian Wright is also one of the co-founders of Tesla. He left the company in 2005.
These partnerships are a small step in transitioning the global commercial fleet industry electric. While there are many environmental and economical advantages to electric commercial vehicles, the initial cost is still very high. While these vehicles make sense in some situations, a lot of questions still remain unanswered, including vehicle range and charging issues. More testing is needed before they are considered for most fleets.
