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Project Title: Postal Electric Vehicles
Baker Electromotive, Inc., Rome, NY
Description
For decades NYSERDA has sponsored efforts to develop battery-electric vehicles, to help reduce dependence on imported petroleum and improve air quality. The largest such effort to date was a program that began in 1998 with Baker Electromotive (an affiliate of Baker Equipment Company) in Rome, NY, in which Baker teamed with Ford Motor Company to design and manufacture an electric-drive Carrier Route Vehicle (ECRV) to replace the gasoline-fueled CRV fleet used by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for making local mail deliveries.
The CRV duty cycle, featuring short trips, frequent stops, and low speeds, was determined to be a very appropriate match for the capabilities of electric-drive technology. Ford had developed the Ranger EV, an electric pickup truck with a chassis and electric powertrain suitable for integration with a modified CRV body, and Ford was promoting sales of this chassis/powertrain in support of Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) programs in New York State and elsewhere. Baker is a supplier of work trucks to commercial fleet operators, providing customized integration of truck bodies and chassis to meet customer specifications, and has worked with USPS on prior electric vehicle projects.
Under this program Baker and Ford built 11 ECRVs for engineering tests and field demonstrations. The vehicles used the Ranger EV chassis and powertrain, and vehicle assembly was performed in Rome. Five of the 11 units were used to perform a successful demonstration program at the White Plains post office and the other units were used for engineering tests performed by USPS and others. Data were collected to quantify air quality improvement and fuel economy, and to assist commercialization by providing a basis for future product upgrade and cost reduction efforts. It was estimated that if USPS replaced half of its 140,000 CRVs with ECRVs, emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and nonmethane hydrocarbons could be reduced by about 3,010 tons/yr, 560 tons/yr, and 300 tons/yr, respectively, including adjustments for electric power plant emissions. In addition, gasoline consumption would drop by 49 million gallons/yr and carbon dioxide emissions would decline by 238,000 tons/yr, net of electric power production.
The technical support provided by this program was instrumental in a 1999 decision by USPS to buy 500 ECRVs, with an option to buy an additional 5,500 units through year 2005. Besides the USPS contract, the project team developed plans for marketing variations of the ECRV to other fleet operators.
Although deployment of the first 500 ECRVs was successful, the project team was unable to maintain production because additional orders did not materialize at a sustained rate. On the positive side, the demonstration at White Plains proved the viability of electric postal vehicles in New York State. Addition of fuel-fired heaters was identified as a potential option that would enhance ECRV driving range during the winter, rather than requiring the vehicle’s batteries to supply energy for heating and defrosting. With additional improvements in electric vehicle technology the ECRV concept may well become viable for USPS and other delivery fleet operators in the future.
Staff Contact
Joseph Wagner
Sr. Project Manager
ext. 3228
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