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One of the upsides to the fuel cost increases has been that we’re finally getting serious about alternative energy. I’ve also noticed people are driving slower and taking up my favorite zen style of driving, hypermiling.

via PopularMechanics

The Specs

The Zero Truck is a Class 4 or 5 (depending on configuration) commercial truck based on the Isuzu NPR—one of the best sellers in the industry. The Zero Truck is an “Integration Package.” In other words, participating dealers receive the Zero Truck conversion components in a few very large crates and up-fit the trucks on site. To become a Zero Truck, the Isuzu’s gas or diesel powerplant is removed along with all the related hardware. In place of the internal combustion powertrain is a large, 100 kw, UQM liquid-cooled, DC brushless electric motor that receives juice from a 50 kw, recyclable lithium polymer battery pack that rides between the truck’s frame rails.

Zero Trucks actually retain the stock GM automatic transmission, thanks to a proprietary, patent-pending coupler (they wouldn’t tell us how it worked), so the driving experience is most like a conventional truck. The Zero Truck drive system adds roughly 600 pounds to the existing 7000-pound curb weight of a gas-powered NPR. The trucks come with an onboard charger and the battery pack takes 8 hours on 220 volts—or 12 hours—on 110 volts, for a complete charge.

The cost of batteries is the final barrier. Pretty soon here we’ll be moving away from batteries thanks to emerging technologies like ultra-capacitors.

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