Spartan Fleet Vehicles and Services, a business unit of Spartan Motors Inc., has signed an exclusive supply agreement with Motiv Power Systems, a producer of all-electric chassis for walk-in vans, box trucks, work trucks, buses and other specialty vehicles.
The agreement provides Spartan with exclusive access to Motiv’s EPIC all-electric chassis in manufacturing Class 4 – Class 6 walk-in vans for a minimum of three years. Over the course of the agreement, the companies plan to build hundreds of zero-emission walk-in vans for fleets.
“Our key customers have been asking Spartan to provide an EV solution. Our exclusive supply agreement with Motiv answers their question and demonstrates Spartan’s ability to innovate and advance the markets we serve, and we believe it places us ahead of the curve in the EV fleet market,” says Daryl Adams, president and CEO of Spartan Motors.
He adds, “Today, under our Utilimaster brand, we have over 800 purpose-built alternative fuel fleet vehicles on the road, many of them powered by electric drive systems. These all-electric powered vehicles have logged many miles and have proven to be durable, reliable, emissions-free alternatives to the internal combustion engine powered chassis. This exclusive agreement allows us to apply over 40 years of fleet vehicle manufacturing knowhow and our Utilimaster Work-Driven Design process to Motiv’s proven expertise and market ownership of the electric propulsion space. Together, we intend to produce innovations that will shape the future of economical and environmentally friendly fleet design.”
Motiv’s all-electric EPIC chassis provides universal charging compatibility and secure remote telematics and diagnostics, resulting in a walk-in van with a 100- to 150-mile range per charge and up to 30% gradeability.
Utilimaster and Motiv worked together in early 2017 to develop a commercially available electric walk-in van concept. At the same time, Utilimaster and Motiv jointly integrated the EV requirements into Utilimaster’s final-stage chassis and body manufacturing processes, located at its manufacturing facility in Bristol, Ind. The Spartan/Motiv first joint customer success followed in January with the completion of an electric walk-in van for AmeriPride Services, a uniform rental and linen supply company in North America.