ELECTRIC TRUCKMAKERS * USA - Balqon offers new one

Harbor City,CAL,USA -Fleet Owner -May 25, 2011: -- Balqon Corporation has introduced the latest model in its line-up of heavy-duty, all-electric trucks, the Nautilus XR E20. The new truck can operate for 16 hours (or up to 150 miles) between recharges, according to company president and CEO, Balwinder Samra... The new truck is designed to serve as a yard tractor, it is built on an AutoCar chassis and features a four-speed, fully automatic transmission; high-performance AC induction motor - 200 HP @ 1800-2400 RPM with 600 lb-ft of torque @1800 RPM; and is powered with a lithium iron phosphate battery pack which has an extended life cycle. There is a five- year warranty on all battery packs...  (Photo from lh3.googleusercontent: Balqon CEO B. Samra with pure battery electric XR E20 tractor)

* Smith Electric Vehicles taps A123 for batteries

Kansas City,MO,USA -Fleet Owner -May 27, 2011: -- Smith Electric Vehicles will buy batteries from A123 Systems, a developer and manufacturer of advanced Nanophosphate lithium ion batteries and systems, according to a recent announcement from A123. The company expects to begin shipping its 5kWh automotive-class prismatic modules to Smith for integration into battery packs in the second half of 2011... According to Smith, A123’s battery technology will be first implemented in the Smith Newton truck, an all-electric, 7.5 ton (16,535 GVWR)–15 ton (33,000 GVWR) vehicle that has been commercialized globally... Smith’s customers include Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo), Staples, Coca-Cola, Sainsbury’s and Dairy Crest, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps... (Picture from smithelectricvehicles)

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA & Canada

* Canada - Navistar Considering Reopening Ontario Plant

Warrensville,ILL,USA -Truckinginfo -18 March 2011: -- Commercial truck manufacturer Navistar International said it could decide by summer whether it will need to restart an idled assembly plant in Canada...  Chairman and chief executive Daniel Ustian said the company has sufficient truck-making capacity at the moment, but might need the Chatham, Ontario, plant if truck orders continue to trend higher through next year...  Commercial truck manufacturer Navistar International said it could decide by summer whether it will need to restart an idled assembly plant in Canada...  Tensions between the CAW and the Navistar over maintaining the plant have persisted for nearly a decade. Chatham workers waged a six-week strike against the company in 2002. Navistar announced plans to close Chatham in 2002 and move its production to Escobedo (Mexico). Ustian relented in 2003 after the union accepted cost reductions for the plant and Navistar received money from federal and provincial government programs for modernizing the plant and training workers...

* USA - Navistar Gets Emissions OK

Warrensville,ILL,USA -Transport Topics -15 March 2011: -- Truck and engine maker Navistar Inc. said it has won regulatory approval for its 15-liter power plant, which it will unveil later this month at the Mid-America Trucking Show, and that it has submitted documents to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board for a 13-liter engine that meets nitrogen oxide limits without the use of emission credits...   (Photo from filecache.drivetheweb: MaxxForce 11-13 rear)

* USA - Electric Truck Maker Secures $58M

Chicago,ILL,USA -Green Economy, by Terrence Murray -15 March 2011: -- Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corporation, a maker of battery-powered electric trucks, has raised $58 million via a share sale...  Smith, which began producing its all-electric-powered truck at its Kansas City plant in 2009, raised $39 million in Series B convertible preferred stock, as well as $19 million in bridge notes and warrants converted into Series B preferred shares...  The company, which acquired Smith Electric Vehicles UK in January, will use some of the cash raised to finance this acquisition. The remaining net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and working capital needs, the company said in a statement...

* USA - Volvo, UAW Reach Tentative Five-Year Agreement on Virginia Truck Plant

Dublin,VA,USA -Transport Topics -18 March 2011: -- Volvo Trucks North America said Friday it has reached tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union on a new, five-year agreement for workers at its New River Valley heavy-duty truck plant in Dublin, Va...  Volvo said last August it was recalling about 270 workers to the plant to meet higher demand...  The company makes Volvo VN and VHD trucks, and makes Volvo engines for North America in Hagerstown, Md...  Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks are both part of Sweden-based Volvo AB... (Photo a Volvo truck)



* Peterbilt purchases Atlanta dealership

Denton,TX,USA -Fleet Owner -Mar 16, 2011: -- Peterbilt Motors Co. has announced the purchase of Peterbilt of Atlanta LLC, an affiliated company, with full-service dealership operations in Kennesaw, GA... Peterbilt of Atlanta offers a full lineup of new and pre-owned Peterbilt trucks. With 14 service bays, the dealer’s factory-trained and certified technicians can perform service on any brand of heavy- or medium-duty vehicle. There is also a mobile road service team of technicians and parts delivery vehicles... (Photo from truckpartsandservice: Peterbilt 587)

* USA - Lack of Japan-Made Parts Closes GM Plant in La.

Shreveport, LA,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Joseph Bonney -Mar 17, 2011:  ... General Motors said it will suspend production at its Shreveport, La., pickup assembly plant next week because of a parts shortage resulting from the disaster in Japan... It is the first automotive plant closure in North America to result from the disaster that has disrupted supply chains of parts and components for automakers... Toyota and Subaru have said they would halt overtime work at their U.S. plants in order to conserve supplies of parts, but both automakers have continued production... GM said its other North American plants continue to operate normally...  Last year the 575,371 20-foot-equivalent units of containers the U.S. imported from Japan included 230,463 TEUs of auto parts, tires and engines, motors and parts, according to PIERS... (Photo from cmsimg.shreveporttimes: Shreveport's GM plant, aerial view)

* Italy - Fiat Bringing Small Van to U.S.

Milano,Italy -Bloomberg News/Transport Topics (USA) -14 March 2011: -- The Turkish unit of Chrysler Group LLC parent company Fiat SpA will begin exporting the Doblo small commercial van to the United States next year...  The announcement was attributed to Fred Diaz, president and CEO of the Ram Truck brand. Diaz oversees a product portfolio that includes the Ram pickup and chassis cab lineups and the just-released Ram cargo van...  Fiat announced more than a year ago that it planned to bolster the Ram commercial lineup with products from other markets...(Photo from 1.bp.blogspot: This minivan is Fiat's all-new Doblo)

ELECTRIC TRUCKS * USA - FedEx CEO: Let's end our need for oil

(Photo courtesy FedEx: A member of FedEx's all-electric delivery fleet)

Memphis,TENN,USA -Fortune, by Frederick W. Smith -February 2, 2011: -- Every day more than 285,000 FedEx team members deliver some 7 million packages to 220 countries, they accomplish this with 670 aircraft and 70,000 motorized vehicles worldwide -- nearly every single one of which is fueled by oil...  FedEx has deployed its first all-electric delivery vehicles and will have 31 in service by the middle of this year. Early results confirm that the costs of operating and maintaining electric vehicles are significantly less than those for traditional internal-combustion-engine vehicles. In some cases we've achieved savings of 70% to 80%. As the price of batteries continues to fall, mostly due to scale production, the economics will start to make real sense from a total-cost-of-ownership perspective...   So we are making a start at FedEx, but it is not enough when it comes to the question of combating our nation's dependence on oil. What we need to protect our nation is the environment to create in a few short years an entirely new transportation system with millions, and then tens of millions, of electric cars and trucks...

ELECTRIC TRUCKS * France - Electric refuse trucks to roll out in Paris next year

Lyon , Francia -Gizmag, by y Paul Ridden -December 27, 2010: ...  Dow Kokam and PVI have announced that a fleet of much less noisy electric refuse trucks is to be rolled out in 2011 by SITA Ile de France, offering similar power and performance levels as their fossil-fueled counterparts... PVI says that the advanced lithium polymer battery system developed in cooperation with Dow Kokam has resulted in a 26-ton electric refuse truck which is the "first ever fully electric refuse truck offering the same performance levels as conventional utility vehicles." The liquid cooled, flat-cell battery technology offers 140 watt hours per kilogram of specific energy and is quoted as having a 10-year lifespan... The powertrain elements and the mechanisms relating to the collection of refuse are all powered by five strings of seven interchangeable battery packs (equivalent to 250 kilowatt hours), which is said to eliminate 130 tons of CO2 per truck per year. The trucks should be able to collect at least a couple of 16 ton service runs before the charge needs some attention and the ability to be partially recharged between runs should further extend that range... In addition to the promise of quieter operation, they are zero local emission trucks which benefit from no idling during periods of inactivity. They can get up to a maximum speed of 70 km/h (43 mph) at full payload with the added advantage of 100 per cent starting torque, and integrated gearbox kinematics will allow the truck to climb steep inclines with a full load without adversely affecting traffic flow...(Picture: The 26-ton electric refuse truck is powered by five strings of seven interchangeable battery packs -equivalent to 250 kilowatt hours-)

Electric Trucks * USA - Study: Should last at least 10 years

Kansas City,MO,USA -Transport Engineer, by Brian Tinham -2 Dec 2010: -- Data gathered from Smith Electric Vehicles appears to shed new light on the residual value debate for electric vans and trucks... Electric trucks should last at least 10 years says study...  Tests on new lithium-ion phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries used in electric commercial vehicles indicate that they should lead productive working lives for at least a decade... The research, which was carried out by Smith Electric Vehicles on its Edison and Newton vans and light trucks, provides interesting data... Harkin states that Smith Electric Vehicles' own research – and independent tests commissioned by the firm – have verified that the battery should still have a "minimum of 80% capacity after 3,000 cycles"... Smith Electric moved to LiFePO4 for their longer life, durability and better performance. Smith now guarantees its batteries for five years, as opposed to the three-year warranty on Zebra batteries... Harkin also makes the point that, because the drive train on a Smith vehicle is friction-free, it does not wear in the same way as an internal combustion engine... (Photo: Control panel on a electric truck)