Electric Trucks To Lead Eco Way?

I can certainly mark this story down in the category of “I didn’t see that coming”. I can also say that I am pleasantly surprised and happy to see this sort of thinking coming to the streets.

EVI USA is a company that has been working on the whole concept of building delivery trucks that run entirely on electricity, or as mostly electric hybrids. Their smaller trucks look a little like glorified golf carts, but their full size light truck actually looks like it might be practical. The suggested all electric range for these trucks is about 60 miles, which while it doesn’t sound like a big number, is much more than many delivery trucks do in a day as it is. Because of heavy traffic and such, delivery trucks may run most of an 8 hour shift and yet only move 30 or 40 miles total. Shifting these sorts of delivery trucks to electric would eliminate a lot of exhaust gases from the city air, and allow for some very impressive fuel savings. For extended range, they have options for a CNG engine. I am not sure if the truck runs on it or that it powers a generator. It would certainly offer a failsafe for companies that might push the limits of the batteries. While fuel prices are currently lower than they have been, we don’t have to look to far back to find outrageous gas prices.

I am particularly impressed by this setup because this is one of the first times I am seeing a practical use for electric cars that would start a process of moving towards non-oil based transport. It would also help to justify the creation of “filling stations” or other methods to recharge electric cars in the future, and to get those sorts of systems widely installed. Read more about it here.