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Posts Tagged ‘Electric vehicle’

There is a lot of buzz around eco-friendly passenger cars, however many manufacturers have also been working on fuel efficient and electric commercial vehicles. Here are some examples.

Navistar

Navistar has recently unveiled its first all-electric commercial truck, which is called eStar. It is a medium-duty vehicle with a range of 100 miles, and fully rechargeable in 6 to 8 hours. The truck will be used by FedEx in its Los Angeles fleet. What is important, the battery is a cassette-type one and can be changed in 20 minutes, which enables the truck to be used 24/7 if needed. Navistar has enjoyed a $39.2 million federal stimulus grant for the development of eStar as a part of the Transportation Electrification Initiative announced by President Obama. What is interesting is that in January 2010 Navistar received some federal funding again. This time the $37 million project is to help in development of a SuperTruck that is expected to provide a 50 percent improvement in fuel efficiency.

CNET gets a look at one of FedEx\’s eStar

Smith Electric Vehicles

Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corporation has been selected by U.S Department of Energy to receive a $32 million grant for a nationwide vehicle electrification program. The funding is used to support the production of all-electric zero emissions commercial trucks. Smith’s customers will also be able to participate in a commercial electric vehicle demonstration program with the goal being to gather data on vehicles placed in service in different regions of the country.

Smith is also proud to be the manufacturer of the world’s largest battery-electric-powered truck called Newton. The truck is equipped with Lithium-ion battery cell technology. It has a top speed of 50 mph, a one-charge range of 100 miles and offers a payload of over 16,000 pounds. Additionally, Newton runs without noise or vibration and stores electric energy during stopping thanks to regenerative braking. The manufacturer claims that when compared to diesel-fueled trucks, the vehicle can give savings of up to 80% on a per-mile basis.

CNN Money Highlights Smith Electric\’s eco-friendly truck

Electric Vehicles International

Based in Stockton, California, Electric Vehicles International is the manufacturer of  all-electric medium-duty truck, the EVI MD and the all-electric walk-in van, the EVI WI. Both vehicles can offer a bit higher performance than the trucks mentioned above with a top speed of 60 mph, a range of 115 miles. The battery requires 3 to 12 hours of charging, depending on its size and charge options (110v/220v).

Will the companies change they used trucks to new all-electric vehicles? The problem is that the green trucks are much more expensive to purchase. For example the eStar costs $150,000 – three times as much as a diesel truck of comparable size. For the time being the all-electric truck industry is supported by federal grants that make the vehicles cost-effective for buyers. In the future, when the production of green trucks reach economies of scale, the cost of the battery (which is the most expensive part) should fall, making the vehicle attractive even without subsidies.

Written by the team of Mascus.com. Visit our site to find various new and used trucks for sale.

A green revolution in the automotive industry has begun, and from time to time we can hear about some brand new technologies that may soon end the predominance of petrol and diesel cars and their negative impact on the environment. For the time being the greenest option are electric vehicles. They are clean, quiet and cheap to run. Of course, they are still not perfect, as the most of the electricity that charges the batteries comes from coal-burning power stations, nevertheless they are the most eco-friendly cars for the time being, and hopefully, in the near future more and more electricity will come from wind, hydropower and solar panels.

There is still long way to go, but at least we are heading in the right direction. As society has become more aware of the environmental problems associated with internal-combustion engines and expects the eco-friendly alternatives, major manufacturers have decided to respond to these expectations. What is more, many governments are now supporting the introduction of vehicles with electric motors powered by battery packs, what will definitely speed up the process. Today electric cars make a minuscule proportion of new car sales, but this figure should improve soon…

The world goes electric

The US government wants to have 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. To encourage drivers the Obama administration offered tax incentives to those who decided on Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) last year. Such vehicle costs around $6,500 and those who bought one could get a tax credit for the full amount. What is more, last year Obama granted $2.4 billion to manufacturers willing to build production plants for electric vehicle batteries. To further support the industry and promote the notion, he also promised that half of cars purchased by the federal government will be plug-in hybrids or all-electric by 2012.

At the end of 2009, the UK government has launched the world’s largest ‘real life’ electric-car trial. The £25 million scheme enables citizens to take part in long-term tests of 340 electric vehicles, ranging from small city cars to sports cars and vans. The project is being undertaken to gather data from real users on battery life, convenience and viable range. What is important, the 8 cities that have been chosen for the trial benefit from new charging infrastructure, what is an undeniable advantage for prospective buyers. There are also plans to exempt electric vehicles from company car tax for several years.

France, Japan, China, and Canada plan to launch some sort of electric vehicle incentive program this year as well. Surely, other countries will follow the suit soon.

Written by the team of CarTruckTrader.com. Visit them online to find fuel efficient vehicles for sale.