Though little known, Balqon Corporation is a leading developer and manufacturer of zero emission heavy duty vehicles. They specialize in Class 7 and Class 8 heavy duty commercial applications. Now they have decided to break from tradition and offer all of their Class 8 yard tractors and drayage vehicles in electric form only powered by lithium.
These vehicles will break from using lead-acid batteries for motivation and will switch entirely to lithium-ion. The decision to change to lithium came after they received $400,000 in funding from the Port of Los Angeles. The money provides funds needed to develop the lithium powered vehicles.
Last month, Balqon outfitted a Nautilus E30 with the lithium ion battery pack. The first rounds of testing show that this vehicle could capably travel 150 miles on a single charge if the vehicle is not loaded with additional weight. The battery pack is capable of quick charging and allows an 80% discharge.
The quest for developing heavy duty zero emission vehicles began several years back for Balqon. In 2007, they demonstrated the ability to travel up to 25mph for 30 miles in a vehicle with an impressive 30 ton capacity rating.
Additional vehicles may reach public roads in the coming years. Balqon has plans to install a similar system in vehicles ranging from refuse haulers, to construction vehicles, to refueling trucks.
With a 30 ton capacity vehicle capably traveling 150 miles per charge why can't smaller vehicles travel 300 plus miles per charge?
Source: Business Wire
