Orange EV, a company based in Kansas City, has announced its new T-Series electric terminal truck. A terminal truck (we prefer the more colorful term “yard goat”) is a short-range tractor used in facilities such as container ports, rail yards and distribution centers to move trailers around as cargo is transferred from one mode of long-haul transport to another.

This application, known as short-haul drayage, is a perfect one for EVs. Yard goats don’t need to have a long range, and they operate only within and around shipping facilities, where a charger is never far away. Furthermore, the emissions of ICE-powered terminal trucks are a serious problem (for example, some have estimated that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which employ some 16,000 diesel trucks, are responsible for 40% of Southern California’s air quality problems).

Several companies are targeting this promising market, including Balqon, which we profiled in our August 2012 issue. However, Orange EV offers a unique proposition that it says can save terminal operators money from day one – it converts existing diesel trucks to pure EVs.

Orange EV removes the diesel powertrain from a customer’s legacy truck, takes the chassis down to bare metal, installs an electric power train, reconditions, repaints and reassembles, and voila – a shiny electric truck with the same capacity as the old smoker, that is practically maintenance-free and delivers 90% savings in fuel costs, according to the company.

Orange EV’s T-Series truck can haul up to 81,000 pounds, can run up to 12 hours between charges, and have a top speed of 25 mph (this ain’t no Model S).

Orange EV announced this week that the Orange EV T-Series qualifies for financial incentives through the Drive Clean Chicago program, which may offer terminal operators savings of $45,000 to $75,000 in purchase price per truck.

“Orange EV applauds Chicago’s leadership in developing a meaningful incentive program which promotes significant emission reductions in a commercial urban environment,” said Orange EV’s CEO Wayne Mathisen.

Source: Orange EV