ePower Trucks Launches New Electric CV with Swappable Lead-Acid Pack (corrected)
19 August 2010
UK-based ePower Trucks has introduced a new electric light commercial vehicle, the XT320E 3.5t. Available from £30,000 (US$47,000), the XT320E costs around half the price of the current 3.5t electric vans on the market, the company says, and is capable of 60 miles on a full charge of its 13 kWh battery pack. Payload is 1,000 kg.
|
|
| The XT320E. Click to enlarge. |
The lead-acid battery technology, adapted from military use in tanks, is maintenance-free and can operate at temperatures of up to -20 °C. The packs can also be swapped out in less than 3 minutes, using a pallet truck.
The vehicle is available with a double battery pack, increasing the range to 120 miles, while still delivering a payload of 670 kg and a GVW of 3.5t.
4.6 miles per kWh is very optimistic in a 3.5 tonne vehicle! Especially so given the Peukert's losses from using lead acid.
Posted by: clett | 19 August 2010 at 08:09 AM
swapping a battery in 30 minutes is not very impressive.
Posted by: Alain | 19 August 2010 at 09:03 AM
Isn't this wher we were a century ago?
Posted by: Mannstein | 19 August 2010 at 10:32 AM
Back to the future? Swapping in 5 minutes would be good; maybe it's a question of connectors and operator skill.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 19 August 2010 at 09:35 PM
Surely it can operate at temperatures *down* to -20 °C? :)
Posted by: Scatter | 20 August 2010 at 02:27 AM