Electric Utility Vehicles

After passenger vehicles, trucks and even motorhomes and caravans, the next category of vehicles to be electrified is under attack: Commercial vehicles. The American manufacturer Oshkosh is exhibiting several vehicle categories at CES 20205, which the company produces in an electric version.

First of all, the smallest of the vehicles: a luggage trolley tractor for airports. This cute robot not only pulls the trailers to the aircraft electrically, but also completely autonomously. The only thing it can’t do yet is load the cargo hold.

The US Post Office is also converting its hundreds of thousands of small delivery vans from combustion engines to electric drives. Although the now more duck-shaped vehicle no longer looks attractive, no one is likely to think of stealing it and being seen with it – with the exception of the postmen. It should also be noted that the steering wheel is on the right-hand side of the vehicle, because when delivering mail, the driver always stops on the right-hand side of the sidewalk to load the letterbox.

In addition to these rather smaller vehicles, Oshkosh also had two heavy-duty vehicles in use. The first is a fire engine in typical American style with lots of chrome and paint and a rustic look.

The garbage truck, which is supposed to drive through the neighborhoods and no longer rouse residents from their beds with its loud diesel engine, looks just as powerful.

The components required for electrification, such as a gearbox – which is not usually found in electric cars – and the battery packs from Proterra were also on display.

This article was also published in German.