Velocity EV, the exclusive U.S. distributor of RIZON battery-electric trucks, has added California Truck Centers, one of the state’s largest commercial truck dealerships, to its authorized dealer network.
California Truck Centers is now certified to sell and service the Class 4-5 zero-emissions cabover trucks – engineered by Daimler Truck – at six of its eight California locations: Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo and Keyes.
“The need for battery-electric Class 4 and 5 trucks is increasing across California as fleets eye quickly approaching regulatory deadlines and their customers’ increasing interest in zero-emission urban delivery,” says Alex Voets, general manager, Velocity EV. “With their extensive customer service reputation in the commercial truck industry, California Truck Centers’ sales and service teams are well-skilled in helping customers navigate the transition to battery-electric trucks.”
California Truck Centers has been owned and operated by the Howard family in Fresno since 1930. For more than nine decades, the dealer group has served the trucking industry in central and northern California with new and used light- to heavy-duty conventional and vocational truck sales, adding electric vehicles to its inventory in 2021.
With more than 800 employees who specialize in OEM truck parts, body shop service and repair, in-house financing, and rentals and leasing, California Truck Centers earned Certified Elite Support status through Daimler Truck. The dealership network has trained a team of 95 vehicle technicians on how to perform safe and efficient service on RIZON trucks, as well as equipped its dealerships with on-site diagnostic equipment, RIZON parts inventory, and charging infrastructure at six dealer locations.
RIZON trucks purchased in California through California Truck Centers are eligible for a base voucher of $60,000 per vehicle as part of the state’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). The zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) designation was approved in September by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), enabling fleet operators to further reduce their total cost of ownership of RIZON trucks with HVIP credit. The CARB certification designates all four RIZON models, which include the e16M, e16L, e18M, and e18L, as compliant under the Advanced Clean Fleets rule that mandates 50% of overall state, local and municipal vehicle purchases be zero-emissions starting January 1, 2024.
RIZON’s battery-electric cabover trucks can be customized with different body options, including box truck, stake bed and more. Designed for city driving with a tight turning radius, collision avoidance safety features, and regenerative braking technology, RIZON trucks can range up to 160 miles on a single charge by both inexpensive level 2 AC charging and DC fast charging, ideal for daily delivery hauls. Medium (M) and Long (L) range battery configurations allow fleet operators to choose the best price-to-range option for their typical routes.
RIZON is a commercial electric truck brand introduced in May from commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck Group. Velocity EV received the first 50 RIZON trucks in October, deploying the fleet throughout its dealer network for immediate purchase and body customization.