If you haven’t heard of Teva Motors, that’s OK, because they’ve only been a company since last year, but they have big plans for their new electric truck.
Doesn’t VIA Motors already have an electric truck? Well, sort of, but not as big as this. Teva Motors’ new electric truck is aimed at short-range delivery companies, like the big brown UPS trucks we see running everywhere. Why do I mention UPS? UPS already has thrown in their support for the new company, and could stand to save millions in fuel every year by switching to delivery trucks with electric drive.
Of course, as with all electric vehicles, electric trucks have a problem with limited range. True, delivery trucks have a limited route to begin with, but running out of juice is an absolute no-no. In order to get around this, the new Teva Motors electric truck is actually an extended-range electric vehicle, à la Fisker Karma or VIA Motors.
The new Teva Motors electric truck is still mainly an electric vehicle, but in case battery levels drop before it can get back to home base and an overnight charger, the onboard diesel-powered generator will kick in to provide backup power. Think they can do it? Guess who’s engineering this new venture, and you’ll agree, Teva Motors has a shot.
Malcolm Power, former vice-president of engineering for the Tesla Roadster, is heading up the engineering department of the new Teva Motors electric truck company. Add to this the years of electric vehicle experience brought in by CEO Asher Bennett and Trevor Power, and there’s a lot of expertise to draw on to make this new electric truck a hit.
This may sound like a familiar story, but Teva Motors is starting out the same way as Tesla Motors did with the Roadster. In order to keep coasts down in the beginning, the new Teva electric truck will start out as an empty chassis from another company so Teva can focus on developing the extended-range electric vehicle powertrain. The prototype will be built in England.
Image © Teva Motors