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

  • LA Metro awards contract to New Flyer for up to 100 battery electric transit buses
    October 11, 2017
    The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) has awarded North America transit bus manufacturer New Flyer, a subsidiary of New Flyer Industries, a contract for up to 100 Xcelsio Battery-electric 60-foot transit buses. The order is part of LA Metro’s commitment to all-electric transit buses by 20230.The contract includes 35 firm orders with the option to purchase an additional 65 buses.
  • Techrules establishes key partnerships for TREV system
    March 14, 2018
    Chinese automotive research and design company Techrules has established key strategic partnerships to develop its Turbine-Recharging Electric Vehicle (TREV) technology. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with supplier of rail transit equipment subsidiary CRRC Times Electric (TEC) at the Geneva Motor Show. Through the agreement, TREV will be developed for use in TEC’s Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit transportation system. The innovation’s weight-saving and range-extending capabilities are said to
  • Videalert monitors Lancashire's bus lanes
    April 23, 2020
    The northern English county of Lancashire has switched to Videalert systems for the enforcement of bus lanes.
  • Electric vehicle charging stations market
    April 7, 2016
    The growing need to reduce carbon emissions is pushing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations market along with increasing use of EVs, government subsidies and incentives according to a new research report from Reports and Reports. It forecasts the market to reach US$12.61 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 29.8 per cent from 2016 to 2022. The growth of electric vehicle charging stations market is attributed to significant incentives offered by the Chinese government for EV buyers and tightening emission reg