The Hybrid Shop is entering into the fully-electric commercial truck with the addition of Tom Gage, one of the early innovators in the segment.

Gage joined forces with The Hybrid Shop to lead expansion efforts into the commercial EV market. He has been commercializing electric vehicles since joining Alan Cocconi at AC Propulsion in 1995. Gage has since founded EV Grid to develop battery systems for vehicles, microgrid, and renewable energy storage. EV Grid works with automotive OEMs and commercial site operators to develop battery systems that reduce cost and improve efficiency.

At the Hybrid Shop annual dealer meeting in Torrance, Calif., Gage addressed attendees. “The commercial vehicle market is the next logical step in the commercialization of fully electric drivetrains. Battery cost reduction and increasing reliability and range mean that operating cost benefits will soon make electric trucks irresistible to commercial fleet managers,” he said.

The company is under new ownership, supported by Itochu, a global-entity with global resources. A new direction and business plan have been established by Martin Kruszelnicki and Yutaka Miyazaki to drive electrification, with the objective to improve the environment through the reduction of emissions.

The Hybrid Shop is a battery-technology-environmental company specializing in remanufacturing Nickel-metal hydride batteries. The Hybrid Shop goes to market through retail franchisees, providing dealers with High-Voltage proportioning training, diagnostic equipment, marketing support, and replacement battery packs for hybrid vehicles. As the commercial market develops, through vehicles such as the Hino 195H, the company has plans in place to ramp-up efforts to build out a commercial network of dealers to service this burgeoning segment.

PAT technology, which helps increase battery life and reduces the cost of electrification, was developed by the Hybrid Shop. Remanufactured batteries feed vehicle information back through the cloud, which evaluates the data developing a predictive model which will help fleet managers to reduce costs through servicing vehicles before they breakdown. Ultimately, this reduces downtime and work to improve efficiencies for commercial fleets.