UPS is going electric in California with an assist from Longmont-based motor maker UQM Technologies.
UQM will supply propulsion systems for a fleet of 100 all-electric delivery trucks for UPS in an area from Los Angeles to Sacramento. The deal is believed to be one of the largest single deployments of all-electric delivery vehicles in the world.
UQM recently opened a $7.6 million manufacturing plant in Longmont that gives it the capacity for commercial-scale production of electric motors and components.
While the UPS deal is relatively small compared with a 10,000-motor contract UQM has with electric car maker Coda Automotive of Santa Monica, Calif., its adds some prestige, said UQM spokesman and treasurer Donald French.
“We’ve been seeing additional validation from name-brand companies,” French said, including supply deals for Audi and Rolls Royce.
UQM declined to disclose the value of the UPS truck deal, in which UQM will be a motor supplier to Stockton, Calif.- based manufacturer Electric Vehicles International.
About 2,500 of UPS’s fleet of 90,000 vehicles use alternative drive systems, including gas-electric hybrids and engines fueled by compressed and liquefied natural gas.
“UPS is always looking for the most efficient methods to deliver customers’ packages in a way that helps them and helps us,” said UPS spokesman Michael French.
The range of the electric trucks will be about 90 miles. They’ll be recharged overnight at UPS complexes.
While the trucks’ operating costs weren’t disclosed, French said UPS won’t adopt a new technology unless it is cheaper or equivalent to the cost of conventional vehicles. The trucks will qualify for $50,000 each in California clean-air tax credits and incentives, plus an undisclosed amount in federal incentives.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
