$20 Million Contract For Via Motors Plug-in Hybrid Electric Trucks (Chevy Volt Of Trucks)

October 16th, 2013 by Zachary Shahan

I know that a lot of you are eager for electric trucks to hit the market. One of the first such vehicles is the Via Motors VTRUX. It’s not 100% electric, but it is a plug-in hybrid electric truck that, like the Chevy Volt, can run solely on electricity. If its electric range runs out, a gasoline engine then kicks in to keep it rolling.

Actually, as far as I’m aware and as far as the folks at Via Motors are aware, the VTRUX is the first “mass-market” electric pick-up truck.

“The pick-up truck is the number one selling vehicle in America and VIA Motors is the only automaker building electric light-duty pick-up trucks, cargo vans and passenger vans,” noted Alan Perriton, VIA Motors president, in a recent press release. “The all-in cost is actually lower than driving a gas truck; this is very welcome news to budget-constrained fleets who spend more and more each year on ever-increasing gas prices, who can now save money and reduce their fleet emissions.”

$20 Million Contract, 50 Fleets

In the above-mentioned press release, Via Motors announced that it had won a $20-million contract to supply the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) with a number of its trucks and electric vans. The exact number was not provides, and may not be finalized, but Via Motors is to supply trucks and vans to over 50 fleets!

“In addition, VIA will install proprietary technology into each vehicle that will record and transmit real-time data to allow the DOE to quantify improvements in fuel economy and emissions,” Via Motors wrote in the press release.

The contract is administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) acting as project manager. The California Energy Commission is also participating the program. The DOE plans to publish the data for use by government agencies, participating fleets and the general public to use to help quantify the benefits of operating plug-in electric vehicles. VIA’s electrified pickup trucks have already demonstrated the potential to reduce gas consumption and emissions by up to 80% on average in early beta testing with large fleet customers.

…

The program includes technology installed in each vehicle that will record and transmit data to the Idaho National Lab (INL) for analysis by the DOE and EPRI. INL is one of the nation’s leading national labs operated by the DOE and specializes in evaluating vehicle performance and energy consumption.

Also see:

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: Via Motors, Via Motors VTRUX, VTrux

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

joshzzz

Hybrid vehicles will soon be a thing of the past. Their combustion engines are rated among the worse.

An electric motor requires very little maintenance or no maintenance at all. Why would you combine it with another engine that is a nightmare to repair and requires costly gasoline. People are trying to escape nightmare gas powered, combustion engines not marry the past with the future.
- Bob_Wallace
  
  “Why would you combine it with another engine that is a nightmare to repair and requires costly gasoline”
  
  Because we do not yet have the cheap enough, high enough capacity batteries that would allow us to make EVs that would work for all.
Vatcha

Wow, $79k a piece in volume. Fleet price on a basic Ford or Chevy is going to be mid 20s. For a fleet of 20 vehicles that would be an extra $1,000,000. There’s a lot of other things you could do for air quality with $1M.
Doug

Before you get too excited. These trucks cost more than a Tesla and can only go 40 miles on a charge. Hmmm…maybe the Army would be interested.