Electric Motors Corporation has been working on upgrading Ford F-150 trucks with more advanced powertrains for a while now. The company's drives incorporate PML-Hi-Pa electric motor technology and were in the F-150 that was at SEMA last year (see more here). But EMC has bigger plans, including a pair of plug-in serial hybrid trucks, called Flash and Thunderbolt, that it hopes to start building next year. The company took the wraps off of the Flash prototype at its Wakarusa, Indiana headquarters over the weekend during the Green Jobs for America Exposition.
Pickuptrucks.com's Mike Levine snapped some images of the new and unconventional vehicle and got the story from EMC CEO Wil Cashen about the two-truck project. The Flash has lithium-ion batteries that will be able to drive for 40, 100 or 250 miles, depending on which option the buyer chooses. All versions use a 1.2-liter gas engine as a range extender. The electric motor and powertrain should be enough to to tow 5,700 pounds and cary 1,940 pounds, but won't be able to go off-road. Price: under $50,000 for the base model before a potential federal tax credit of $7,500. The Thunderbolt will be even more powerful and is intended to serve as a power source at work sites and have built-in WiFi.
Cashen described his company's methods as Tesla-like, saying, "It's an electric truck with an onboard range-extender generator system. We've taken an F-150 and have done something similar to Tesla, where they used a Lotus sports car for the underpinnings of their electric car. We're using an American-made vehicle for [the underpinnings] of our truck." There's a video of Cashen speaking about his company on Indiana Business after the jump.
[Source: EMC, Pickuptrucks.com]
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