Alternative Vehicles for Commercial Delivery Displayed at Massachusetts Festival. By Gregory M. Lamb, CSMontitor, October 8, 2008. "AltWheels Day [on September 29, 2008, was] the largest gathering of alternative-power commercial vehicles on the East Coast. The autumn event in Framingham, Mass., showed off 45 alternative-powered vehicles to hundreds of corporate fleet managers and government officials from 28 states. The vehicles, which range in size from an electric scooter to a large Class 6 (25,000 lb. gross weight) truck, used a variety of alternative-power schemes, including hybrid electric, plug-in all-electric, hydrogen fuel cells, compressed natural gas, biodiesel, and 85 percent ethanol... Smith Electric Vehicles, based in Britain, showed off a large all-electric plug-in delivery truck that recharges in 4-1/2 to 6 hours. Designed for urban streets, it has a range of 130 to 150 miles per charge and a top speed of 50 m.p.h. Smith plans to begin selling the battery-powered vehicles in the United States beginning next year... Alison Sander conceived of the AltWheels event after visiting a rain forest in Ecuador several years ago. The tribal chief told her he had dreamed that his rain forest, and all rain forests, would disappear unless something changed. "You need to go back to your native place" and figure out how to change that vision, he told her. By bringing innovative companies together with fleet managers, Sander expects many ways will emerge to cut petroleum use."
2008-10-09
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