July 02, 2008
Testing of Electric Truck for Los Angeles Port Sparks Enthusiasm
LOS ANGELES – The Port of Los Angeles views a 30-ton
prototype vehicle it has had in service since January as a forerunner of a
fleet of electric trucks to serve terminals and rail yards, according to www.latimes.com.
So far, the vehicle has logged 360 miles on the odometer.
Port authorities believe electric trucks could substantially reduce emissions
generated by an estimated 1.2 million diesel short-haul truck trips that are
made each year between the L.A. and Long Beach port complex
and local warehouses and rail yards. If those trips were made by zero-emission
electric trucks, port officials said, about 35,600 tons of tailpipe pollution
would be eliminated annually.
The electric truck was developed by Santa Ana-based Balqon Corp. in a jointly
funded effort led by the port and the South Coast Air Quality Management
District. Balqon has agreed to establish an electric truck assembly plant near
the port, where cargo container traffic is expected to double by 2020.
Although electric truck tests are still underway, the port has already ordered
20 more of the vehicles at a cost of $208,000 each. The electric truck, which
takes about three hours to charge, has a range of about 30 miles while pulling
a 60,000-pound cargo container, and about 60 miles empty. It costs about 20
cents a mile to operate, or about four to nine times less than a diesel truck,
depending on fluctuating fuel costs and operating conditions.