Vicinity Motor announces entry into medium duty truck market with development of fully electric Class 3 vehicle

Vicinity Motor Corp (CVE:VMC) (OTCQX:BUSXF) (FRA:6LG) has announced that it’s entering into the medium duty truck market with the development of a fully electric Class 3 vehicle.

The company said the new electric truck, with a 12,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating, will utilize proven electric-vehicle (EV) technology with a smaller environmental footprint. 

And the sizes and design of the medium duty truck line will provide maximum versatility to support multiple applications, utilizing high quality, commercially available technology and industry standardized charging solutions to enable rapid adoption.

READ: Vicinity Motor sees its 1Q revenue soar 588% to C$27.3M as bus deliveries ramp up

The EV truck is a first for the Canadian company, which is a leading supplier of electric, compressed natural gas, gasoline, and clean-diesel buses.

Designed with the popular cab-over design, Vicinity Motor said the first electric truck will be offered in a Class 3 rating, with the addition of the Class 5 truck model in 2022. 

The EV truck is expected to appeal to customers in urban delivery applications with daily usage under 150 miles. Vehicles will be sold through a robust network of existing dealerships throughout North America. 

The company said full production and commercial deliveries of the trucks are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021.

“The premiere of the VMC electric truck is an incredible milestone for not only Vicinity, but for the industry as it transitions towards true zero-emissions,” said William Trainer, founder and CEO of Vicinity Motor, in a statement.

“The VMC truck will be an environmentally friendly alternative for diesel vehicles more commonly used in this segment. We designed our electric truck to be a cost-effective, user-friendly vehicle with the ability to charge using standardized solutions, requiring no major infrastructure upgrades on the part of our customers. We’ve leveraged our world class technology to engineer this one-of-a-kind vehicle with our customer in mind – and the result is another industry first.”

Production capacity

Trainer said his sales team has already started the process of introducing the product to dealer networks, as the company expects its production capacity of the new medium-duty line to be over 5,000 units per year in a market that sees over 400,000 trucks sold annually.

“We have locked in production levels for orders of up to 200 units in 2021 alone,” he said. “We are gaining significant momentum with our line of Vicinity Lightning buses, and the introduction of a truck with our unique customer-focused design will provide an exciting supplemental growth opportunity in new end-markets. I look forward to announcing further details on our upcoming VMC truck line in the near future.”

Contact the author: [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham

Story by ProactiveInvestors