Amp Testing a Medium-Duty Electric Truck

Amp Electric Vehicles has announced a new testing program with TRC Inc to ”independently test the vehicle to ensure it can survive the rigors of package delivery in an environment where it is common to keep their vans in service for 20 years or more.” Amp says the final pre-production test program should be completed within the next month.”.

Amp founder and CEO Steve Burns told AutoblogGreen that AMP is “focusing only on EVs that have the correct metrics that encourage short terms sales. As you know, most passenger EV companies have only found limited success from a sales point of view. EVs are gaining traction, but at a slower rate than anticipated.” Amp Electric Vehicles recently ceased the conversion of passenger cars to electric to focus on fleets and delivery trucks, and now they have gotten to the stage where they are testing a medium-duty all-electric truck.

Three of the main obstacles to mainstream EV adoption are high price tags, long charge-time, and a lack of charging stations, partly due to the fact that the electric car industry is very small. But for businesses, the costs are easier to absorb in the short term, and the long-term cost savings can add up to thousands of dollars per year. That is why there are multiple companies, including Amp, Smith Electric Vehicles, and Navistar, pursuing commercial EVs.

In order for the public demand for charging stations to be high, the charging stations need to be able to charge the vehicles quickly enough. At the moment, they cannot. It takes 3 to 8 hours to charge electric vehicles depending on the voltage of the power outlet. People are not willing to spend hours sitting in public so they can recharge, so this is a major deterrent that needs to be prioritized much more than it is now.

Source: Autoblog Green