Motiv Power Systems has received an Executive Order from the California Air Resources Board certifying its Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis (EPIC) family for use in Class 4-7 commercial vehicle applications. Motiv has now become the first Tier 1 supplier of a CARB-certified all-electric stripped chassis. Unlike diesel and gasoline powered stripped chassis, EPIC chassis are certified for the entirety of their service life, requiring no further emissions testing.

With CARB certification, finished vehicles built on the all-electric EPIC chassis are also eligible for both state and federal grant and subsidy sources, netting savings of around $100,000 per vehicle in both California and New York.

Prior to the introduction of Motiv’s EPIC chassis, final stage vehicle builders, which comprise the majority of the medium-duty fleet market, couldn’t transition to electric without going through an arduous certification process of their own. Additionally, reconfiguring a previously approved application required going through a re-certification process. With this CARB certification of the entire EPIC chassis family, Motiv is taking that regulatory burden off of builders and owning it ourselves.

—Urvi Nagrani, Director of Business Development for Motiv

As compared to both gasoline and diesel, the new EPIC chassis family reduces operating costs by 85% and maintenance expenses by 66% while providing comparable hill climbing capability and performance. The EPIC chassis’ use of passenger car batteries ensures long service life and inexpensive replacement costs while over-the-air software updates deliver new features and functionality.

Motiv’s technology integrated into the EPIC all-electric chassis is already in use in Fortune 50 fleet deployments nationwide, logging more than 350,000 miles (563,000 km) on the road.