XL Hybrids Wants You to Know: They’re Still Here

We first covered XL Hybrids back in 2011. Back then, we were excited about the company, which promised to offer bolt-on retrofit kits that would turn high-volume vehicles like full-size GM vans and Panther-platform Fords into more fuel efficient gas-electric hybrids. It seemed like a great thing, but we didn’t hear much about the company. After a while, we mostly forgot about it.

Mostly.

A few weeks ago, however, I received an email from Jay Sandler asking if we were still interested in hearing about what XL Hybrids was up to. After more than three years, I told him that I was surprised XL Hybrids was still up to anything at all – and that’s when things started to get pretty interesting.

Jay is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for XL Hybrids – and he’s been busy. The company’s first commercial products launched late summer last year. These were hybrid retrofit kits for Chevy Express 2500 and 3500 vans which were closely followed by kits for Ford’s E series Econoline vans. That E series retrofit surprised me, since that van has been largely out-Darwined by the Mercedes Sprinter and Ford’s own Sprinter series vans.

“That’s true,” said Sandler. “They’re still making E series vans, though, to fill existing orders. On top of that, there are millions of those vans, from E150s to E350s, still in operation in fleets all over the country. Our conversions can help extend the lives of those fleets and reduce their running costs.”

That seemed like sound reasoning to me, but I wondered (aloud) if people would put an expensive retrofit package onto an existing vehicle that they, maybe, didn’t want to put any more money into.

Sandler actually laughed at that. “That’s why we’re still around.” It turns out, XL Hybrids is still around because its retrofit conversion kits sell for about $8000, and can typically pay for themselves in gas savings in about 3 years. “36-39 months,” says Jay, adding “that’s without government or tax incentives figured in. We can actually make a solid business case for our conversions.”

That’s a far cry from competing hybrid truck products like Bob Lutz’ VIA project, which offers $79,000 pickups that would- well, let’s just say that it would take you “longer” to get your money back out of a Via truck without some serious government subsidies.

We had a chance to do some direct question-answer stuff ahead of an industry trade show in California. I typed furiously, but may have missed a few words here- so take these as “paraphrasing” rather than direct quotes from Jay. Enjoy!

Q&A With XL Hybrids’ Jay Sandler

---

Q. What’s the big take-away, the main point of what XL Hybrids is doing?
A. I’d say the product is easy to operate. There’s no special driver training required, so (the drivers) can just get in and drive. Our hybrids drive just like conventional vans, but it picks up braking energy and turns it into kinetic energy going forward, so it gets a 25% increase in MPG.
Q. How does the product impact OEM warranty?
A. There’s no impact, because there’s no interaction with the ECU/TCU. Our hybrid system reacts to data on the CAN Bus, in that it “listens” and then applies TQ or braking as it sees fit.
Q. How long does it take to install?
A. Most shops can install our product in about 5 hours.
Q. Do you have a CARB number?
A. Yes. Even if we don’t touch the emissions controls, California requires it. We have a vehicle in the CARB lab and expect to be certified shortly.
Q. Do you see VIA Trucks as a competitor? How do you compare, cost-wise?
A. The XL Hybrid system is less than $10,000- closer to $8,000 in volume. The VIA system is closer to $80,000- which is, like, crazy. They can make sense with large gov’t subsidies covering the incremental difference, but the problem is that gov’t subsidies aren’t always forever and they aren’t always consistent. That’s not a sustainable business case, because there doesn’t seem to be any economic sense to an $80,000 conversion if you have to pay for it yourself. XL’s simplicity also removes the VIA’s need for specialized training for techs and dealers nationwide. 5 hour install. If it fails, it’s just a van until it gets repaired.
Q. How long to recoup your investment?
A. 3 years. 36-39 months, in most cases.
Q. What’s the biggest deal, the key idea you want people to “get” about XL Hybrids?
A. Again, I think it’s the fact that we make good economic sense without subsidies. That’s a pretty unique claim in the green space. Most of the few similar options for fleets out in the market today don’t make sense without incentives.

Source: Gas 2.

FedEx Electric Delivery Vans To Get Hydrogen Range Extenders

The commercial vehicle market stands to benefit the most from the adoption of cheap-to-operate electric vehicles, though range limitations also mean limited use for most delivery companies. Buoyed by a $3 million Federal grant, FedEx, Smith Electric Vehicles, and Plug Power are adding hydrogen-powered range extenders to 20 electric delivery vans for real world testing.

The hydrogen fuel cell range extenders will about double the driving range of the Smith Electric Vehicles delivery vans, which can travel about 80 miles between charges. That’s good enough for extremely local delivery, but many routes have drivers covering 150 miles or more on a regular delivery route. While electric vehicles are capable of covering such distances, the costs and recharging times go up accordingly. FedEx has tried out a wide range of electric vehicles, but so far none can cover a full day’s work. Rival UPS has gone so far as try out electric-assisted trikes in Europe.

By having a small battery and a hydrogen range extender however, one could add 50% more range in just a few short minutes if needed, and 160 miles of operating range should cover all but the lengthiest routes. Just as important, the hydrogen-electric hybrid can reduce fleet fueling costs by as much as 50%, and considering how much fuel those 10 MPG delivery vans go through, there’s a whole lot of money that can be saved if the right alternative is found.

With Toyota investing heavily in a hydrogen fueling infrastructure of its own, maybe fuel cells really are a better answer than pure EVs? FedEx certainly seems to think so.

Source: Gas2.0

FedEx Express doubles and diversifies all-electric fleet with 24 new units; adding more than 4,000 new, fuel-efficient vehicles in total

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. is adding more than 4,000 new, fuel efficient vehicle. As part of that, within the next two months FedEx Express will place 24 new all-electric vehicles into service, expanding to three new cities and more than doubling its fleet to 43 all-electric vehicles while growing the diversity of suppliers it uses for electric vehicles.

At the same time, FedEx Express will be adding more hybrid-electrics, using composite vehicles and upgrading more than a tenth of its conventional vehicle fleet to more energy-efficient vehicles.

FedEx Express is bringing new all-electric delivery vehicles to New York City, Chicago and Memphis, and diversifying the existing Los Angeles fleet. In all, FedEx will add into service 15 Navistar eStar electric vehicles, two Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) eCell electric vehicles and two FCCC electric vehicle retrofits, and five Ford Transit Connect Electric vans to complement the current 19 all-electric vehicles deployed in Los Angeles, London and Paris.

These vehicles will be studied to help evolve all-electric vehicle technology and to establish a foundation of understanding on utility grid needs by modeling impact of future all-electric vehicle growth on the shared energy grid.

• In New York, FedEx Express will be working with GE and Columbia University’s Engineering School to study energy grid impacts in an effort to project how large vehicle deployments would impact the energy grid.

• In Chicago, FedEx Express will be comparing different all-electric vehicle technologies to determine what works best for its fleet needs.

• In Memphis, FedEx Express is retrofitting existing vehicles to make them all-electrics, saving resources through using existing vehicle bodies. FedEx has added five Transit Connect Electric vans from Ford Motor Company and Azure Dynamics to support the corporate Information Technology Asset Disposal program, driving regularly scheduled routes to pick up, recycle, reuse and dispose of IT assets.

• In Los Angeles, FedEx Express is diversifying its fleet, adding an FCCC eCell to its current four Navistar eStar all-electric vehicles, and is in the midst of adding 45 new FCCC-Eaton hybrid-electric pickup and delivery vehicles to its fleet.

Different vehicles are appropriate for different routes. The key is to use the right truck for the mission on the right route. FedEx Express is adding all-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles to dense urban routes that have a lot of starting and stopping. This use of regenerative braking and electric motors significantly improves the efficiency of the vehicles on such urban routes.

On high-mileage routes, FedEx is upgrading vehicles with 4,000 fuel efficient, lower emitting BlueTEC clean diesel Sprinter Vans. Each Sprinter is at least 100% more fuel efficient than the most commonly found alternative it replaces. Since launching our first Sprinter in 2000, we have put close to 1.4 billion miles on these more fuel efficient vehicles, saving over 66 million gallons of fuel compared to their predecessors.

—Keshav Sondhi, manager of Asset Management for FedEx Express Global Vehicles

FedEx Express has also been piloting five composite vehicles from Utilimaster in Detroit, Memphis, Jackson, Tenn., and Jonesboro, Ark. Dubbed “The Reach,” it is able to achieve 35% better fuel economy than its predecessor and has been performing well. The smaller, more efficient engine and low weight of the composite materials, which includes recycled rubber material, resin, fiberglass and poly core, compared to aluminum, allows the vehicle to achieve these fuel efficiencies.

Source: Green Car Congress