ZeroTruck Debuts at AFVI Expo
12 May 2008
Electrorides, Inc., introduced the ZeroTruck, an all-electric 12,000-16,000 lb GVWR medium-duty truck, at the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute’s 2008 Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada (11-14 May). The ZeroTruck is the first electric truck in its class to be offered for sale in the United States in 2008.
The ZeroTruck uses a UQM PowerPhase 150 kW (201 hp) electric propulsion system that produces peak torque of 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) and peak power of 150 kW. The system has a continuous torque rating of 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) and a continuous power rating of 100 kW (134 horsepower). The system also features optimized four-quadrant performance, dynamic torque, speed and voltage control, and system energy efficiency of more than 90% across substantially all of its performance regime.
A lithium-ion polymer battery pack from VK EIG Ltd. provides up to 100 miles of range with full highway capability. EIG is a new (founded in 2007) S. Korean battery company that produces large format cells, modules and packs. The company says that its stock 3.6V cells have an energy density of 180 Wh/kg, and can support continuous power discharge at 3C with bursts at 10C for 5 seconds. Lifetime is 1,000 cycles, at 100% DOD.
Electrorides has an exclusive agreement with Boshart Engineering to produce the electric truck.
Electrorides created the ZeroTruck to operate in a mobile media service designated ZeroGreenMedia that will initally serve the Los Angeles area. Electrorides says that it is also developing an optional carbon-neutral charging system that will allow operators to extend their range and permit recharging off-the-grid with a renewable fuel source.
So how much do these batteries cost? At 1000 cycles and 100 miles per charge, that gets you 100k miles.
Let's say your truck gets 10mpg - at a cost of $4-$4.50 that's $40-$45k in fuel. Most businesses are going to
If you avoid 100% DOD cycles, you could probably extract a lot more life out the batteries and bring the cost down further with some sacrifice in range.
Posted by: Dave | 12 May 2008 at 10:36 AM
This is getting close to what would be required for mid-size electric city buses.
Similarly equipped city buses could keep on going with a recharge every 4 to 5 hours or a mid-day recharge with larger batteries
Added super-caps, to capture more breaking energy and extend batteries life, could be even better.
Posted by: Harvey D | 12 May 2008 at 11:25 AM
Harvey D:
The applications that seem to generate interest are the ones with a large amount of time needing a small power source (utility trucks, here media truck). You hence get two benefits for your buck spent on the battery: better mileage when mobile and electric power when still.
Posted by: DavidJ | 12 May 2008 at 12:44 PM
I really doubt a truck this size gets 10mpg, probably much worse.. and probably in stop and go city driving also. Any idea of the size of the battery pack?.. apparently the truck is four times as expensive as the diesel version, but has a reasonable payback.
http://www.electrorides.com/zerotruck.htm
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/04/23/zerotruck-will-be-unveiled-at-afvi-expo-in-las-vegas/
Posted by: Herm | 12 May 2008 at 02:02 PM
DavidJ:
Whenever I see a rather heavy electric truck, I see a potential application for an electric bus. School buses are real trucks with larger cabs. They are normally used at max for 2 hours in the morning, followed by a 4 to 5 hour waiting period that could become an extended recharge period. The afternoon trips are normally the same as the morning trips and are followed by a 14-hour overnite stop, perfect for total recharge.
I wish that electric school buses would soon be used in our area. We live too close to a secondary school and the 30+ school buses racing in and out are rather noisy.
Posted by: Harvey D | 12 May 2008 at 03:19 PM
Ok. Nice. Now thats getting to be closer to what we need. I just wonder if anyone is considering a standard automobile version of this. One that wont be slammed with a redicules price tag like $50-100k.
Posted by: Ross | 12 May 2008 at 04:29 PM
The fly in the ointment is that school busses are often used for many scgools in a series of runs. Range is a major issue when your servicing 5 different schools in the morning and again in the evening.. Even a small school district can rack up a metric arseload of miles on a bus each year.
And batteries suck in one massively bad way.. as they age thier RANGE drops. In short it only had a 100 mile range when it was brand new.
So adding in the fact the bus wouldnt be stored near any one school.. and need to conserve bat life... a max of likelt 7-12 mile runs/// useless. But getting closer at least.
No school busses are gona go rev and fcev and you note this truck is planned in a rev variant. That one might make its way into mid sized school busses tho im betting some sort of gm mutated vikt system will win those contracts.
Posted by: wintermane | 13 May 2008 at 03:00 AM
I drive a medium size trucks with 16 and 24 foot boxes on the back and the mileage is more like 9 mpg if you're easy on it.
The cycle life given doesn't tell you how it will perform under actual conditions. For one, you're not going to be doing 100% DoD so the number of cycles will be actually be much higher. Even at the end of the battery life it will still have 80% of its original charge capacity and therefore still be very valuable and hopefully someone will realize there is a business buying old batteries and selling new ones in a way that is profitable for you yet affordable for the vehicle owner.
ps: a *metric arseload of miles doesn't tell us anything. Does a school bus travel more than 80 miles a day? They certainly have a lot of roof top real estate to incorporate solar power collection into and could even help balance the utility's power load in the summer when it's needed and they're sitting in a huge parking lot.
We need to be innovative and find ways not to burn fuels that pollute our environment and kill thousands of us every year. Some things like elctric vehicles might be a little expensive and sometimes inconvenient. I'd much prefer that to the expense and inconvenience of myself or my family being seriously ill because of environmental contamination.
Posted by: drivin98 | 13 May 2008 at 06:20 AM
Depends when I was in school one bus would travel 250 miles a day but then I wound up on the hell bus 2 years in a row and that one did over 400 a day and I spent a LONG time on that dang bus.
Here however my neice doesnt spend as much time as we have alot more busses BUT the city is growing and the route grows longer every year.
Posted by: wintermane | 13 May 2008 at 08:51 AM
Winterman:
We live rather close to a public and a private school. Both use about 30 buses each.
According to the drivers:
the private school morning and afternoon runs are mostly between 20 and 40 miles.
for the puclic school, it is generally less, between 15 and 30 miles.
The number of school buses have exploded in recent years and their runs are much shorter. The objective is to reduce travel time to less than 45 minutes for most students.
For very sparsely populated areas, much smaller buses (less than 16 seats) could collect students to a hub where larger buses would take them to the assigned schools. The same drivers could drive the larger buses the rest of the way, normally less than 20 miles.
Posted by: Harvey D | 13 May 2008 at 10:19 AM
God I wish they had had that when I was young... normal 1.6 hour long 2.5 hour... But on the public school do they also serve more then one school? I know when I sit at the bus stop at the park near here the same busses rumble by many times as they grab kids for several elementary middle and high schools and we just funded a new highschool.
Anyhoo with luck you might get at least some of those belching behemoths changing into bev models I bet tghe private school as I just relized as with ours the private schools have thier own bus fleet for just the one school.
Posted by: wintermane | 13 May 2008 at 03:38 PM
Since buses sit for a while waiting for children to start or end school, permanent charging stations(with charging solar panels?) could be at the schools as well as the school bus yard. These charging stations, when buses aren't at the schools, could be used by the few EVs owned by the public(numbers to increase in the future) to generate a bit of income to defray the charging station costs. Oh, yeah, someone will mention gov't competing with free enterprise...well...set it up to work!
As solar panels come down in price & gain greater efficiency, I love bus yards & school parking lots used for gathering solar power, as well for their primary storage function. Oh, yes. Put solar panels on the schools & buses themselves too. The children will love it. Matter of fact, the children will demand it. & we love to give children what the want...specially when its good for their health. Power to EVs. Let ICE die, that people can live.
Posted by: litesong | 14 May 2008 at 07:18 AM
Where did 'School Busses' come from, is that what you want to hear about? This is a medium duty delivery truck and is designed to stop run away increasing delivery costs for business, and make a small step to mitigate emissions that we all breath. It is a small step in the right direction, one that is farther sighted than hybrid automobiles. Stop finding fault and start finding ways that you can be a part of changing the way we move on a large level.
Posted by: Gorton Vallely | 18 May 2008 at 10:55 AM
A lithium-ion polymer battery pack from VK EIG Ltd. provides up to 100 miles of range with full highway capability. EIG is a new (founded in 2007) S. Korean battery company that produces large format cells, modules and packs. The company says that its stock 3.6V cells have an energy density of 180 Wh/kg, and can support continuous power discharge at 3C with bursts at 10C for 5 seconds. Lifetime is 1,000 cycles, at 100% DOD.
HA..
Do you still live in the 80's?
Lifepo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is the only safe solution for electric vehicles. lithium-ion polymer is like driving a bomb down the road..
Go back.. do your research again.
Posted by: Danny Ray | 09 August 2008 at 09:39 AM