A123 Systems to supply batteries for Navistar's electric big truck

Image courtesy A123 Systems

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On March 9, 2010 A123 Systems, the developer of their Nanophosphate lithium-ion batteries, announced they would be supplying battery systems for the Navistar Modec Electric Vehicle Alliance.  The batteries are expected to be manufactured in A123's Livonia, Mich. facility, slated to open in March 2010.  The Navistar EV has a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) rating of 12,100 pounds and a payload capacity of two tons. The vehicle will be assembled in Wakarusa, Indiana, and is scheduled for launch in mid-2010.

The Navistar Modec Electric Vehicle Alliance was announced on Dec 2, 2009.  They expect to produce 400 electric vehicles in 2010, and expects to be producing several thousand annually within two years.  In August 2009 the Department of Energy announced that Navistar would receive a federal grant of $39.2 million in government stimulus funding to develop and build electric trucks.  These trucks are not a conversion of a gas truck, but purpose designed to be electrically driven.  They are intended for urban use, have aerodynamic styling and a two-ton (or more) carrying capacity.  They are pure battery electric trucks and expected to have a 100 mile range.

“The commercial market is ready for electric vehicle technology to advance,” said Dee Kapur, president, Navistar Truck Group. “This vehicle is road ready for fleets to implement as a practical solution for many applications. It has an excellent, eye-catching design that says, ‘this is something different, the future is now.’ We see this as an ideal vehicle for the U.S. urban markets. We already have interested customers, including some of the most respected names in the industry.”

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