All-electric Vans Deliver the Goods

There are a handful of all-electric cars on the road, from the Chevrolet Bolt to the Tesla Model S – the best-selling, all-electric model in the U.S. in 2017. The environmental benefits of plug-in electric vehicles are compelling to many consumers, but are they equally attractive to companies for commercial vehicles? One Ohio-based company, Workhouse Group Inc., is counting on it. Workhorse, an OEM of electric commercial vehicles, has recently begun focusing on last-mile delivery. “Last-mile delivery of goods – usually by fairly good size vehicles – tends to cause quite a bit of pollution, so it’s low-hanging fruit,” said Workhorse CEO Steve Burns at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in 2016. “If we can lower the emissions and the cost of those vehicles, it floats a lot of boats.” The company is making significant inroads, partnering with UPS to deploy 50 of its new N-Gen electric delivery trucks across the U.S. this year, adding to the 365 other electric vehicles the company has already provided UPS. In addition, Workhorse has submitted six prototype “Next Generation Delivery Vehicles” (NGDV) for the United States Postal Service (USPS). On the latter, Workhorse is providing a chassis and powertrain to partner VT Hackney, which is building the body. The duo are among six supplier finalists vying to replace the Postal Service’s longstanding mail delivery trucks. All of Workhorse’s delivery vehicles rely on a mix of composite materials to facilitate lightweighting. While the company doesn’t disclose details on the materials, it utilizes honeycomb core sandwich panels and CFRP. “When you have pickup and delivery trucks that are basically flat with a huge surface area being the wall of the truck, it lends itself to a rib cage with some honeycomb materials over top of it,” says Burns. For all of its electric vehicles, Workhorse builds the drive train and chassis at its Indiana plant. Then, employees assemble the vehicle there using body components made by an outside firm. Workhorse began work on the NGDV in 2015, when USPS opened a request for proposals (RFPs) from companies interested in developing the new vehicles. The winning prototype will land a lucrative contract to replace up to 180,000 mail trucks estimated at more than $6 billion in business. At the time of the RFP, Workhorse was less than a decade old and understandably cautious about throwing its name in the hat. “We are a little company, and the post office bid is the largest automotive contract in history. Could we place such a big bet on this?” says Burns. “Early on, we realized we could probably leverage this into some commercial vehicles that would justify the developmental costs.” Two vehicles developed by Workhorse that piggyback on the NGDV project are the W-15 electric pickup truck and, most recently, the N-Gen electric cargo van. The W-15, which features a CFRP body, has a gross vehicle weight rating of 7,200 pounds and an 80-mile all-electric range. During development, Workhorse pre-sold the vehicle to 18 different fleets that bought 5,500 trucks, equating to approximately $300 million in sales, according to Burns. Customers ranged from municipalities to energy companies. Although the W-15 is designed for commercial use, Burns says it’s drawn interest from consumers, too. “It’s a good-looking, electric range-extending, carbon fiber pickup truck. It gets the equivalent of 75 mpg, and it’s very quick and strong,” he says. “Once we get through our first wave of fleet deliveries – and we’re at the tail end of that – consumers can get their place in line.” The N-Gen is a cargo van similar to the Ford Transit. “The only difference is that the Transit is the same product used by plumbers or florists or a last-mile delivery person,” says Burns. “The N-Gen is a for-purpose, last-mile delivery vehicle.” Last-mile logistics refers to the movement of goods from the transportation hub to the final delivery destination. Transportation companies are battling to dominate the market, which is skyrocketing thanks to e-commerce. A key priority is reducing costs associated with last-mile delivery, which can account for up to 28 percent of a product’s total transportation cost, according to a report from Supply Chain Dive, a manufacturing news curator. “Usually, vertical markets aren’t big enough to build a for-purpose truck,” says Burns. “But with last-mile delivery and e-commerce ballooning, we thought it warranted a dedicated vehicle.” The N-Gen, which has a CFRP body and weighs just under 5,500 pounds, has an anticipated range of 100 miles on a single charge. It can carry a one-ton load in its 450-cubic foot cargo bay. Comparable gas and diesel vans typically weigh thousands of pounds more, decreasing their fuel efficiency and carrying capacity. In addition, the N-Gen was designed with a low 19-inch floor and a 105-inch roof height to maximize cargo space and make it easy for the driver to get packages in and out of the van. The N-Gen also is available with Workhorse’s optional integrated HorseFly^™ unmanned aerial vehicle package delivery system. The CFRP drone launches from the roof of the van and delivers packages to their destinations within the driver’s line of sight. Earlier this year, Workhorse deployed two N-Gen cargo vans in a pilot program in San Francisco. The company is delivering approximately 270 packages a day for a local firm. Burns says the next batch of N-Gen vans will likely roll out elsewhere in California, then Ohio. In the contract with UPS, Workhorse is designing and deploying 50 larger N-Gen vans with 1,000-cubic-foot bays and up to 5,000 pounds of cargo capacity. “Our goal is to make it easy for UPS and others to go electric by removing prior roadblocks to large scale acceptance, such as cost,” says Burns. “While consumers typically look at the initial purchase price [of vehicles], a fleet looks at the purchase price plus eight years of fuel and maintenance.” Burns says that Workhorse’s vehicles are less expensive in total cost of ownership than standard pickup trucks or cargo vans. As he looks across the transportation industry, Burns believes the combination of electric drive trains and composite monocoques in Workhorse’s commercial vehicles is unique – and cost-effective. The battery of electric vehicles is the most expensive component. Lightweighting vehicles means less battery, which keeps the price point down. “We needed the weight savings, and we didn’t want to go with aluminum because of all the tooling and replacement costs,” says Burns. “Composites just seem like a natural fit. We’re surprised more vehicles aren’t made like this.” [divider]Talking Transportation with Policy Makers[/divider]Join your fellow ACMA members at the Transportation and Defense Policy Fly-In in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25-26, to advocate for the increased use of composites in aerospace, defense and transportation markets. Don’t miss this key opportunity for your company to gain inside knowledge and to grow your business relationships with federal agencies. By attending, you gain important insights and potential leads in federally-influenced markets, as well as network directly with agency leadership and your industry peers. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/TranspoDef2018.