Vancouver Electric Vehicle Converter Taking Aim at U.S. City Fleet Business
By John O'Dell October 15, 2009Governments' Clean Fleet Mandates Creating Huge Market for Workhorse EVs
Canadian EV-converter Rapid Electric Vehicles has signed the City of Santa Monica, Caif., as the first U.S. customer for its Ford Escape-based REV 300 ACX electric sport utility.
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REV showed off its Ford Escape conversion at the recent 2009 AltCar Expo in Santa Monica.
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REV, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, makes and installs a conversion package that includes the electric powertrain and power management system that replace the gasoline powertrain in Ford Escape SUVs.
The city selected REV "because they have a high-quality conversion" that can help move it toward its goal of a zero-emissions fleet, fleet superintendent Rick Sikes said in a statement issued by REV.
The company is talking to other U.S. fleets and earlier this month announced a preliminary agreement with the city of Inglewood, Calif.
REV is targeting cities and other government agencies because EVs, though expensive up front, can often save a fleet operation money in the long run due to their reduced maintenance and operating. Most government fleets are required to purchase low-carbon, fuel efficient vehicles and many have federal or state funding to offset the higher purchase cost of electric vehicles.
It's a potentially huge market, with more than 30 million government and commercial fleet vehicles in the U.S.
REV's electric vehicle conversions take donor vehicles from the customer and ship back a battery-electric version with cosmetic changes to the front end that replace the Ford grille and markings with a REV fascia.
The approximately $45,000 conversion (not including the cost of the donor vehicle) takes about six hours and results in a vehicle capable of 100 miles of travel on a single charge and, REV says, with maintenance costs that are just 10 percent of what the gas model cost to keep running in a municipal fleet.
The REV 300 system uses lithium-phosphate batteries and, says company founder Jay Giraud, the battery pack can be recharged in as little as 3 hours with a 220-volt system.
The conversion, he said, doesn't alter the steering or suspension and results in a vehicle that is quicker than the original, with greater torque and - because of the weight of the low-slung battery pack - a lower center of gravity.
Inglewood fleet manager Rick Longobart told Green Car Advisor that REV's vehicles are among the best fleet EVs he's seen.
He said the city intends to use them to begin converting as many as 50 SUVs in a fleet of more than 200 vehicles that already includes hybrids, EVs and cars and trucks running on ethanol, compressed natural gas and liquid propane.
"We support them, we endorse them and we will buy from them," he said in a recent interview.
Giraud said the company also is working on conversion systems for the Ford F-150 pickup and the Ford Ranger - popular large and small pickups for municipal fleets.
Inglewood, a medium-sized city of 130,000 located just south of Los Angeles has, for example, more than 100 Ford Rangers and other small pickups in its fleet.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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