In this year’s State of the Union address, President Obama said he wants America to have 1 million electric vehicles by 2015. And nothing is stopping medium-duty trucks from being counted among those electric vehicles of the future.
So says Rich Serio of ZeroTruck, which is moving into the Bridgeworks Enterprise Center business incubator in Allentown.
ZeroTruck’s vehicles use a lithium ion battery pack instead of a standard internal combustion engine, so they have no carbon emissions. The company is targeting those who use medium-sized trucks, like utilities, delivery companies and municipal customers. Since they can last up to 100 miles on a charge, Serio says his company’s vehicles are perfect for customers who drive trucks around populated areas where they’re never far away from a place to recharge.
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania recently gave ZeroTruck a $250,000 investment, which Serio says will go toward developing a prototype for a new, more energy efficient transmission. Over the next year or two ZeroTruck plans to produce and test this prototype and bring it to market.
It’s also fitting that ZeroTruck’s new home, the Bridgeworks, is a former Mack Trucks plant. The company, which has three employees now, hopes to hire at least another dozen by summer. Given its proximity to Mack, Serio predicts Allentown will be a great source of workers experienced in truck manufacturing.
One of ZeroTruck’s vehicles is already on the road in Santa Monica, Calif., where the city bought one for its air quality and water department. The company is working through other orders and talking with other potential customers, Serio says.
Source: Rich Serio, ZeroTruck
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
