Navistar Unveils Electric, Zero-Emission Truck

[Baack]

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--U.S. truck maker Navistar International Corp. (NAV) said Thursday it will deliver its first electric truck to FedEx Corp. (FDX) and deliver 400 of the vehicles by the end of the year, thanks, in part, to stimulus funding provided last year by the government.
Navistar's eStar model is the first medium-duty commercial vehicle to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's clean-fuel fleet vehicle certification and the California Air Resources Board's certification as a zero-emission vehicle, the company said.
U.S. lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems (AONE) is providing the batteries for the eStar trucks. The eStar can travel 100 miles on a single electric charge, and charging the battery takes about six to eight hours, Navistar said.
"We have brought the eStar to market to meet the needs of responsible customers who strive to have a positive impact on the environment through energy efficiency," Shane Terblanche, Navistar's general manager for electric vehicles, said in a statement.
FedEx said it would test the vehicle as part of its Los Angeles fleet.
Last August, President Barack Obama visited Navistar's Indiana factory to announce the company had been awarded a $39.2 million federal stimulus grant to build electric trucks.
The government set aside about $5 billion in grants for electric vehicle technologies to stimulate job growth, support the domestic vehicle industry and "develop cost effective solutions to reduce our dependence on oil," said Matt Rogers, a senior advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
A123 was awarded a nearly $250 million stimulus grant to improve battery manufacturing at two Michigan factories.
General Motors Corp. (GM) received grants totaling about $240 million, Ford Motor Co. (F) received $93 million and Chrysler LLC received $70 million to support manufacturing of electric vehicles, according to the DOE. .

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...atestheadlines

[Brickman]

Nice waste of tax payer money.

And only 100 miles??????? Whats that?? flat land cruising about 60 tops with no stop and go traffic and no hills.

Nice try but not enough practical range.

[Hardlyevr]

well instead of being out of hours, you could be out of juice!

[jeepskate99]

Nice waste of tax payer money.

And only 100 miles??????? Whats that?? flat land cruising about 60 tops with no stop and go traffic and no hills.

Nice try but not enough practical range.

that's not even one local gas run for me. WTF?

[Brickman]

well instead of being out of hours, you could be out of juice!

Maybe the guys that can't manage to stay with in the HOS should be issued one of these "trucks".

[difference-maker]

These trucks will be used in the city where they have short distances between each stop. The compact vehicle will allow better movement within the city. That little vehicle looks a lot better with the FedEx decals on it.

[phroziac]

These trucks will be used in the city where they have short distances between each stop. The compact vehicle will allow better movement within the city. That little vehicle looks a lot better with the FedEx decals on it.

Well yeah, but it doesnt take many stops before you get to 100 miles...

and i bet thats highway driving, no hills, no stop lights.

I bet in NYC the charge would last from Exit 27 on the BQE (Atlantic Ave) to the navy industrial park on Flushing Ave....thats about 5 miles and we all know how much NYC likes stop lights. And you know you have to gun it as soon as you get a green to get anywhere...

I just couldnt imagine the use at all. In rural areas, routes get longer, and in major cities like NYC, the stop lights and traffic would kill the charge...

I bet in my area a UPS truck runs over 100 miles in a day....


But ok, besides that...heres the real problem....These big batteries cause big environmental issues. Bigger than burning oil. They aren't likely to rupture in a crash, but anything can happen. I've seen volvos get totalled before! But the manufacturing processes involved in making the batteries, is very un-friendly to the environment.


And besides that, a truck like this should not have to weigh much more than a car, and people building electric cars in their backyards with half as much technology are getting about this much range. Come on.

[andrew5184]

It looks hideous. Waste of taxpayer money, indeed. I hate to sound like a bitter old codger, but I've totally had it with the tree hugging movement's attempts to destroy our economy and our industry.

If electric trucks were feasible at this time, we wouldn't need government money to offset the cost of R&D and production. I'm sure we are all for innovation and building a better mousetrap, but if the government has to get involved, that usually means the mousetrap isn't going to work.

[59Panhead]

I read about this in one of the freebie magazines... my first thought was.... WHY?

Seems highly impractical. Like having a 3 gallon fuel tank on your truck.

[cessna5354]

And just where the heck do the greenie's think the electricity comes from ??
Over 50% of the US electricity is generated by coal fired plants.
Lets keep the carbon fuels in the fuel tanks.

$ 40 million in Stimilus Funds to create this museum piece.