Delivery Van

Its eVito urban delivery van will go on sale this fall.

Workhorse Group, the electric vehicle startup working on everything from a plug-in hybrid pickup truck to a prototype replacement delivery truck for the U.S. Postal Service, has teamed with a New York-based company to deliver its first zero-emissions hydrogen fuel cell delivery van to FedEx.

What started as a project could upset the delivery industry.

UPS said in 2011 that it was acquiring 100 battery-electric delivery trucks for its California operations and has now put the proverbial rubber to the road.

A plug-in hybrid delivery van sure seems like a good idea for commercial fleet customers looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better manage volatile gasoline prices, right? Some companies, FedEx and Frito-Lay, are already buying green vehicles, and there are many other companies making a lot of short hauls in crowded urban areas where people would notice a reduction in diesel fumes. So why is this nut so difficult to crack?

The idea of an American-made extended-range plug-in utility van may have faded – for now, with the failure of Bright Automotive – but there remain some companies kicking around that exact idea across the pond.

The writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once opined that using an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke. With that in mind, let's take a look at the latest work van concept from Volkswagen. The German Automaker has partnered with the German Post Office and the University of Art at Braunschweig to create the eT! electric delivery van. The company says that vehicle offers zero-emissions driving and can be operated by a joystick-type device on

Emerald Automotive delivery van – Click above to watch video after the jump