Work Truck Magazine, April 2018

TRUCK NEWS 12 WORK TRUCK APRIL 2018 Motiv to Supply Spartan Motors with Electrified Step Chassis n Spartan Motors signed an agreement with Motiv Power Systems to supply battery electric chassis products for Class 4 6 Utilimaster step vans for three years Motiv will supply its EPIC all electric chassis that will allow Spartan to produce zero emission Utilimaster vans for commercial fleet customers Motivs chassis provides universal charging compatibility and secure remote telematics and diagnostics A walk in van equipped with the EPIC chassis can provide a range of 100 to 150 miles per charge and up to 30 gradeability according to Spartan Motors There are more than 800 purpose built Utilimaster alternative fuel fleet vehicles on the road today Utilimaster and Motiv worked together in early 2017 to develop a concept battery electric walk in van They also jointly integrated the EV requirements into Utilimasters final stage chassis and body manufacturing processes which is located at its manufacturing facility in Bristol Ind UPS WORKHORSE COLLABORATE ON ELECTRIC DELIVERY VEHICLES n UPS announced plans to deploy 50 plug in electric delivery trucks designed from the ground up as part of a collaboration with Workhorse Group The two companies aim to produce electric delivery trucks that are comparable in acquisition cost to conventionally fueled trucks without any subsidies The trucks are expected to have a range of around 100 miles per charge and provide a nearly 400 fuel efficiency improvement over conventional trucks The Class 5 zero emission trucks will feature a cab forward design to optimize the driver compartment and cargo area increase efficiency and reduce vehicle weight The trucks will join UPS Rolling Lab the companys fleet of more than 9000 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles UPS will test the vehicles primarily on urban routes across the country including in Atlanta Dallas and Los Angeles Following real world test deployments UPS and Workhorse will fine tune the design in time to deploy a larger fleet in 2019 Since most of the maintenance costs of a vehicle are associated with the engine and related components UPS expects the operating cost of the new plug in electric vehicle to be less than a similarly equipped diesel or gasoline vehicle UPS goal is to make the new electric vehicles a standard selection where appropriate in its fleet of the future Ford Offers Wi Fi Upgrade for Older Models n Ford is enabling owners of 2010 to 2017 model year vehicles to add a Wi Fi hotspot and telematics features through FordPass SmartLink an OBD II dongle available from dealers By using the dongle owners of the older models can use additional smartphone enabled features and get more information about vehicle health security and location through alerts Ford is allowing owners to enroll in the program now before making it available in the summer The initiative is part of Fords connected vehicle plan By 2019 all new Ford vehicles will offer connectivity Customers purchase the OBD II device and receive a complimentary trial of a Verizon 4G LTE Wi Fi hotspot with 1 gigabyte or 30 days of data whichever comes first The parcel delivery company expects the maintenance costs of the new vehicles to be lower than similarly equipped diesel or gasoline vehicles A walk in van equipped with the EPIC chassis can provide a range of 100 to 150 miles per charge PHOTO UPS PHOTO SPARTAN MOTORS PHOTO FORD