Skip to main content

Zero emission delivery vehicle project begins in Houston

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) has teamed up with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation to reduce vehicle emissions from delivery trucks in the region. As part of a US Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored effort, local fleets will replace existing diesel delivery vehicles with thirty all-electric medium and heavy-duty Smith Newton trucks for daily operations in the Houston-Galveston area.
September 2, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) has teamed up with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and 3822 Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation to reduce vehicle emissions from delivery trucks in the region.  As part of a US Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored effort, local fleets will replace existing diesel delivery vehicles with thirty all-electric medium and heavy-duty Smith Newton trucks for daily operations in the Houston-Galveston area.

The project is designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of all-electric delivery vehicles to perform at the same level of operation as similarly-sized diesel delivery vehicles while significantly reducing emissions and petroleum use.  By deploying emission trucks for this program, H-GAC expects to reduce petroleum consumption by over 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel over the two-year demonstration period. The project will have additional impact with an expected reduction in GHG emissions by 37.5 million tons of carbon equivalents per year and an expected reduction in criteria pollutants of over 2,000 tons per year.

The Smith Newton trucks include the company’s proprietary Smith Power, with variable 40-120 kWh battery pack options; Smith Drive, and Smith Link, an onboard system for monitoring the vehicle’s vital statistics.  The vehicles that will be deployed under this grant are based on Smith’s latest production model Series 2000, which has been fully deployed in several locations across the country.

Each Smith Newton will be delivered with an electric vehicle charging station (EVSE).  Fully recharging the vehicle will take approximately 6 to 10 hours per night, depending on the size of the battery pack and the state of charge when the vehicle returns to the fleet depot.

The H-GAC zero emission truck project will serve as a pioneer for this innovative clean technology by helping fleets deploy all-electric delivery trucks that will improve their fleet operations and benefit the local community. CTE, a non-profit and leader in alternative transportation technology deployments, will manage the project, collect operational data, and report on the project’s impact.   The combined efforts of project partners will help further the objective of developing a market for this advanced electric transportation technology.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Glasgow finalises its mobility-shift strategy
    February 14, 2024
    Scottish city wants 'far more sustainable and equitable modes' than the private car
  • Fifth of UK drivers ‘will switch to electric’ for next car
    October 18, 2018
    More than a fifth of UK drivers are planning to switch to an alternative-fuelled vehicle for their next purchase, according to new research. AA Cars says 22% of respondents to its Populus poll of more than 20,000 drivers will go for electric or hybrid vehicles – a massive jump from the 2% who currently drive an ‘eco-friendly’ car. AA Cars, which is the used car arm of the AA motoring organisation, has seen a 470% increase in people searching for used hybrid and electric vehicles on its website since 2
  • BlueSG launches large scale EV car share programme, Singapore
    December 6, 2017
    BlueSG will launch a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) car-sharing programme in Singapore on the 12 December as part of its vision to accomplish a fleet of 1,000 EVs and 2,000 charging points by 2020. Called the BlueSG programme, it is available as either a premium yearly membership plan priced $15 (£11) per month, or a weekly plan which does not require any recurring fees. Additionally, 30 BlueSG stations that offer 120 charging points will be rolled out by the end of the year; 18 of which are in
  • Watch your step: the sidewalk robots are here
    March 14, 2023
    The way we order and pay for goods has changed radically – but what about how those goods are delivered? Gordon Feller looks at how sidewalk robots might reshape the urban landscape