A look inside an all-electric bus from GreenPower. (ACT Expo photo)“Major OEMs are starting to show sincere interest, which is likely to drive costs down significantly and improve quality over the next five years,” said Simon.
Andy Swanton, vice president of truck sales for BYD, said during a panel discussion the best delivery window for electric vehicles is between 50 and 200 miles a day.
“You want a certain number of miles but not too many,” he said, factoring in battery life and weight in relation to fuel and other savings.
While cost and technological barriers still exist, rapid advancements are being made, he said.
Looking ahead, Swanton envisioned an infrastructure system similar to today’s gasoline and diesel stations, where drivers pull in and swamp out their batteries, rather than stopping for long periods of time to charge.
Abas Goodrazi, president and CEO of US Hybrid Corp., called energy one key solution to reducing emissions caused by the excessive traffic jams that plague much of the nation, particularly Southern California.
He said electric vehicles could provide a 15% efficiency improvement over natural gas powered vehicles in drayage operations.
