Workhorse Group Plans a PHEV Pickup Truck With 80-Mile Electric Range

Cincinnati-based Workhorse Group has unveiled concept renderings of its W-15 plug-in hybrid electric pickup truck with a goal to deliver trucks in 2018.

Duke Energy, the city of Orlando and the city of Portland have signed nonbinding letters of interest to purchase the trucks for their respective uses.

Duke Energy has said it could purchase as many as 500 trucks by 2019.

“We believe this will be the first plug-in range-extended electric pickup truck built from the ground up by an original equipment manufacturer in America. It’s not a conversion vehicle,” Workhorse CEO Steve Burns said.

Targeted at less than $50,000 before incentives, the five-passenger crew cab style pickup will have a floor-integrated Panasonic lithium-ion battery pack that will provide an estimated 80-mile electric driving range and regenerative braking capabilities.

When the battery pack is depleted, a small two-cylinder gasoline engine — the same that comes on BMW i3 passenger cars — acts as a generator to add a hybrid driving range of an estimated 310 miles.

The pickup will feature lightweight composite body panels and be underpinned by a high-strength stainless steel frame.

Two electric motors, one on each axle, give the W-15 four-wheel drive capability.

Workhorse said the pickup tips the scales at 7,200 pounds and can haul up to 2,200-pounds worth of cargo.

In electric drive, fuel economy is estimated at a 75 MPGe rating, while in hybrid mode, the W-15 pickup returns 28-mpg highway and 32-mpg city.

Workhorse just received a $10 million order for 200 hybrid-electric delivery trucks from United Parcel Service (UPS), which follows a May UPS order for 125 hybrid-electric vehicles.

Since then, Workhorse has added FedEx and Alpha Baking to its customer list.

Workhorse plans to have a full working prototype W-15 pickup at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in May 2017 in Long Beach, Calif., a trade show organized by Fleets & Fuels.