The medium-duty 220EV is Peterbilt’s third electric vehicle model and is aimed at inner-city and local pickup & delivery applications.At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Peterbilt Motors Company continued the rollout of its electric vehicle lineup with the Peterbilt 220EV, a zero-emission, battery-powered version of its Model 220 medium-duty cabover aimed at city delivery and urban applications.
The 220EV is the third electric model introduced by Peterbilt, joining the 520EV refuse truck announced in 2017 and last year’s 579EV regional-haul tractor. The company plans to put six 220EV units in service as part of a customer field test later this year, with a goal of 30 to 40 Peterbilt electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2019.
“We now have refuse, regional haul and local pickup & delivery covered,” said Jason Skoog, Peterbilt general manager. “We think those three applications are going to have the most immediate and near-term payback for our customers from an ROI perspective.”
The 220EV is a collaborative effort among Peterbilt, Meritor and TransPower, a San Diego-based company that specializes in battery-vehicle integration for the medium- and heavy-duty markets.
Like its 520EV and 579EV electric siblings, the 220EV uses TransPower battery packs but adds the Meritor Blue Horizon eAxle (introduced at last year’s ACT Expo). The drive axle has 2.67:1 starting gear and 1:1 final gear ratios. The eAxle’s motor is mounted inside the axle itself, eliminating the need for chassis mount and driveline and opening up space between the frame rails for mounting battery components.
The 220EV uses two TransPower batteries totaling 148 kW and is powered by Meritor’s Blue Horizon eAxle.The 220EV is equipped with an 1two-stage 1-kW onboard charger. A standard 220-volt AC connection can charge the batteries in 11 to 13 hours, and a high-voltage DC fast charger can reduce charge time between one and three hours.
The two TransPower battery packs provide 148 kWh and a 100-mile operating range. The 220EV weights approximately 2,000 pounds more than the Model 220 diesel cabover.
With customer field trials ramping up this year and continued Peterbilt is taking an intentionally deliberate approach to vehicle electrification with ongoing validation testing at the Paccar Technical Center to ensure its electric vehicles meet Peterbilt standards and customer expectations.
“We have customers in a lot of applications that have different needs, from performance to green image,” said Scott Newhouse, Peterbilt chief engineer. “The different technologies we bring to our trucks, including electrification, is all to support that, support how they want how they want to position themselves in the industry, to support their customers’ needs as well as their profitability.”
