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.

Related Content

  • May 18, 2018
    Parliamentary council urges UK gov to support EC safety proposals
    A key UK safety body is calling for legislative action on European Commission vehicle safety proposals. The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) wants the EC’s third mobility package to be adopted by the UK government. These measures are part of the Juncker Commission’s initiative to implement less polluting vehicles in Europe and provide more advanced technological solutions. This package outlines a new road safety policy framework for 2020-2030 and is accompanied by two legislativ
  • June 22, 2018
    K Group to increase Finland’s electric car charge points by 50%
    K Group intends to boost Finland’s electric car charging infrastructure by 50% by 2019. The solar power producer will install 400 charge points for electric cars and plug-in hybrids at 70 outlets of convenience chain K-Store across the country. The project will support the government's target to increase the number of electric cars in Finland to 250,000 by 2030 and to build 2,000 public charge points by 2020. Around 300 of the charge points will feature 22kW capacity while the remaining 100 will char
  • October 25, 2018
    Uber to implement clean air fee for all London trips
    Uber will introduce a fee of 15p per mile for all trips booked via its app in London to help its drivers purchase an electric vehicle (EV). The surcharge will be introduced in early 2019. Uber says drivers working 40 hours per week for two years could receive around £3,000 of support towards the purchase of an EV. The initiative is part of Uber’s Clean Air Plan in which the company expects to raise more than £200 million in the next few years to support the switch to electric. Uber estimates tha
  • March 23, 2012
    GE Energy forges charger agreement with Coda Automotive
    GE Energy Industrial Solutions has finalised an automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement for the sale and distribution of the GE WattStation wall mount electric vehicle (EV) charging station with EV manufacturer, Coda Automotive.