United Parcel Service stated that it would partner with Los Angeles-based startup Thor to develop a zero-emission medium-duty electric delivery truck . It will be a part of the package delivery company’s strategy on using more renewable energy solutions.
UPS said that we can expect to see the electric delivery truck on roads later this year. The performances of the truck most probably won’t be any good: it is expected to have a lightweight battery designed and manufactured by Thor that will provide enough power to drive for around 100 miles. In comparison, Tesla’s semi-truck, which is way more powerful and uses more energy will have a driving range of 500 miles.
UPS plans to test their class-6 electric delivery truck for the first six months. They are interested in the practical battery capacity and technical integration. If the package delivery company is satisfied with the real performances of the electric delivery truck, they may buy more of them.
Currently, UPS has a plan of using 9,300 low-emission vehicles, including all-electric, hybrid electric and compressed natural gas. This will allow them to understand better which one will work best for specific routes and for the company in general.
However, Thor is not the sole UPS’ partner for this plan. The parcel company has partnered with Workhorse Group to build another all-electric delivery van and with European company Arrival for a futuristic-looking small van. Additionally, it has pre-ordered 125 electric semi-trucks from Tesla.
By now, it is all we know about the UPS’s plans, but it would not be strange if, after successful tests of Thor’s van, UPS will want to buy another vehicle from the Los Angeles startup: ET-One big truck. Thor promises to build a big truck for regional hauling with over 300-mile range on a single charge. The ET-one will have a maximum speed of 70 mph.
[Via Autoblog]
![Tesla Battery State of Charge [SoC]](https://i0.wp.com/www.greenoptimistic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/tesla-battery-app.jpg?resize=300%2C160&ssl=1 "Software Update for Tesla Model S Fixes Parasitic Drain and Increases Range")
UPS already has a few electric trucks in France, I just don’t understand why diesel and petrol trucks are not banned in all major cities yet, to fight both air and noise pollution, especially the early hours garbage collection trucks. Or why cities don’t have a plan to progressively transition these trucks to EVs by 2030-2040. This would encourage manufacturers to design new EVs and reduce their costs, which are simply too prohibitive today.
The UPS trucks are so heavy they can’t be retrofitted to EVs. I hope their new trucks are specifically designed as EVs, not just the engines, or you’d need 200 miles worth of batteries to actually achieve 100 miles. Better make the battery pack extensible too, as 100 miles range might be too tight for a whole day of delivering from the hub to the suburbs. Otherwise EVs are really ideal as delivery vehicles: They don’t use fuel like diesel trucks do when they constantly brake and accelerate in city heavy traffic or at delivery points.