The Lion Electric Company announced several key partnerships with major truck upfitters to provide new refrigerated, dry freight, and aluminum stake body options for its Lion6 zero-emission urban truck. These partnerships are with Morgan Truck Body, Thermo King, Knapheide, and CM Truck Beds.

The announcement came on March 9 via a news release during Work Truck Week 2022 in Indianapolis, where the company is displaying several Lion6 vehicles, including:

• Lion6 Electrified Refrigerated Concept with Morgan Truck Body and Thermo King

• Lion6 Aluminum Platform Body 18-foot with Storage Pack with Knapheide

• Lion6 Aluminum Platform Body (26-foot) with CM Truck Beds

"The wide variety of upfit components we are debuting at this year’s Work Truck Week is proof that electrification has arrived for a broad range of truck fleet customers, from dry cargo fleets to those with temperature-sensitive requirements," said Brian Piern, chief commercial officer of Lion Electric. "We are pleased to be working in close collaboration with four industry leaders as we continue to move toward a zero-emission future in trucking, and look forward to continuing to introduce new applications to our highly flexible Class 5 to Class 8 chassis vehicles."

The Lion6 is a Class 6 zero-emission urban truck built on Lion's experience from putting more than 550 heavy-duty all-electric vehicles on the road, covering over 9 million miles so far. Offering 200 miles of range on a single charge, the Lion6 is designed and built to be 100% electric from the ground up. The company promises no engineering compromises or waste inherent to platforms retrofitted from traditional internal combustion engine designs.

The Lion6 also features Lion’s battery thermal management system (BTMS), which keeps battery temperatures in the ideal operating range with performance in both extreme hot and cold environments with minimal impact on range.

Lion said the battery technology can be leveraged not only for propulsion, but also to simultaneously power a vehicle refrigeration unit – as demonstrated by the electrified refrigerated concept truck body at Work Truck Week by Morgan Truck Body. Mounted on a Lion6 chassis and utilizing a Thermo King all-electric refrigerated unit, the concept features a 24-foot truck body that is integrated with Lion Electric’s vehicle systems and powered by the vehicle’s onboard batteries – eliminating emissions and noise pollution caused by diesel refrigeration units.

With new stake bed upfit options in addition to dry freight bodies, the technology of the Lion6 can be leveraged for many vocations. Lion’s partnership with Knapheide brings work fleets the option of an electrified lightweight aluminum 18-foot platform stake body, which also features an enclosed storage pack behind the truck cab to secure work equipment. Lion also debuted a larger stake upfit option for the Lion6 with a new 26-foot aluminum platform body in partnership with CM Truck Beds. Additionally, an innovative dry freight body from Morgan Truck Body is at Work Truck Week, leveraging lightweight materials for improved payload and innovative aerodynamic features such as side skirts to maximize range.  

These new upfit equipment options make the Lion6 one more zero-emission solution for the final stage of delivery, with an attractive total cost of ownership in comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles and savings for fleet operators from lower maintenance requirements and reduced energy costs, according to the company.

Lion said its trucks offer maintenance savings of up to 60% and energy savings of up to 80%.