Sunday, March 3, 2013

No. 139: A demonstrative driving experiment of small EV trucks starts in Tokyo (March 4, 2013)

Technology: 
Yamato Transport that is the leader of Japan’s home delivery business, Toyota, and Hino will start a demonstrative driving experiment of small EV trucks by the end of this month. The small EV trucks used in the experiment carry a load of one ton and travel about 20-30 km per day. They carry a refrigerated compartment and a chillroom for the refrigerated courier service. The research team will study advantages including reducing environmental load to be realized by the switchover of the fuel from light oil to electricity and the performance of batteries.

The small EV truck travels about 100 km per charge. The motor is housed below the driver’s seat, and the height of load-carrying platform is about 44 cm, about half of the height of the current load-carrying platform, to increase the efficiency of loading and unloading of the cargo. The two experimental small EV trucks will be in service in Tokyo until February 2014.
    
 
The experimental small EV trucks will
 travel inside Tokyo until February 2014