UQM to supply motors for 100 all-electric UPS trucks

UQM Technologies has received an order from Electric Vehicles International (EVI) for 100 PowerPhase HD Select 200 propulsion systems that will be equipped in the all-electric UPS delivery vans built by EVI.

The power systems EVI is buying are designed specifically for use in commercial vehicles and include a 200 kW (268 hp.)/900 N-m (664 lbs.-ft.) electric motor/generator and controller.

UQM recently opened a $7.6 million manufacturing plant in Longmont, CO, that gives it the capacity for commercial-scale production of electric motors and components, according to the Denver Post.

According to UPS, the vans will be deployed in California early this year and will replace older-generation diesel trucks, saving an estimated 126,000 gals. of diesel fuel every year. The trucks will be used in an area from Los Angeles to Sacramento. The deal is believed to be one of the largest single deployments of all-electric delivery vehicles in the world.

About 2,500 of UPS’s fleet of 90,000 vehicles use alternative drive systems, including gas-electric hybrids and engines fueled by compressed and liquefied natural gas.

The range of the electric trucks will be about 90 mi. They'll be recharged overnight at UPS complexes.

UQM Technologies president & CEO Eric Ridenour said the company is pleased that UPS has selected the all-electric EVI delivery van for the expansion of its all-electric delivery van fleet program.

“The expansion of our business with EVI into UPS vehicles represents a significant deployment of our higher power propulsion systems in the medium-duty commercial truck market and will drive revenue growth in this important segment,” Ridenour said.

The trucks will qualify for $50,000 each in California clean-air tax credits and incentives, plus an undisclosed amount in federal incentives.