ROUSH CleanTech is adding battery power to its lineup. The Livonia, Michigan, company announced on May 1, 2018, that it has built an all-electric version of the Ford F-650 medium-duty truck.
Until now the company has been known for alternative fuels, since its core products run on propane autogas and compressed natural gas. The electric F-650 is its first step into battery-electric vehicles. ROUSH CleanTech chose the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, California, to show the truck.
The specs are aimed at fleet work. A lithium-ion pack of up to 225 kWh runs at 700 volts. Range depends on the truck’s gross vehicle weight rating, but it averages up to 120 miles. Top speed is 75 miles per hour.
Power comes from an AC permanent magnet motor. It is rated at 150 kilowatts, or 200 horsepower, in continuous use, while peak output reaches 250 kilowatts, or 335 horsepower.
The company is also going through Ford’s eQVM process. Once complete, it would be an Advanced Fuel Qualified Vehicle Modifier for electrified commercial powertrains.
Todd Mouw, president of ROUSH CleanTech, said electric medium-duty trucks and buses make sense because demand in that weight range is strong and very few factory options exist. He also pointed to the company’s base of more than 1,200 customers. Those fleets already run about 19,000 propane and natural gas units on the road.
