The National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Green Truck Summit offered a platform for the latest work by ALTe LLC. This Auburn Hills, Michigan company presented a range-extended Ford F-150 conversion to trucking industry experts and drivers at the March 9th event. This converted Ford F-150 features the company’s Range-Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV) platform intended for aftermarket consumers in the future. ALTe LLC also announced at the NTEA Green Truck Summit that it was in talks with multiple parts companies and retailers to offer local conversion services nationwide.
The REEV platform combines a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine with an 82kW DC generator, two 82kW electric motors and a 25 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. ALTe LLC says that replacing the original platform with REEV only increases weight by 200 pounds, which is a drop in the bucket compared to other systems. The overall range of the converted Ford F-150 is 469 miles with an all-electric range of 52 miles. ALTe LLC has tested its latest conversion at a fuel economy of 32 miles per gallon, an improvement on the 19 miles per gallon highway projected for the standard model by the EPA.
The REEV-outfitted Ford F-150 is only a next step for ALTe LCC as it expands services globally. The company has been featured through events like the NTEA Green Truck Summit as well as mainstream media outlets like Forbes. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) recently issued $8.4 million in tax credits to ALTe LLC for expansion of its 185,000 square foot production facility. In addition to boosting aftermarket conversions, ALTe LLC has also made the argument that these funds will create jobs in a struggling region. The company says that it will add more than 300 jobs with these grants in order to achieve a goal of 90,000 REEV platforms per year.
ALTe LLC is offering a template for hybrid drive train development in the future. The company says that a full conversion only requires about 13 man hours, which would certainly decrease with more personnel and larger production scales. As ALTe LLC creates partnerships with retailers, consumers would be able to convert their favorite cars and trucks into hybrids. This conversion process would not take long and would decrease in price with higher volumes. The unknown factors for ALTe LLC include the initial costs of conversions, the compatibility of the REEV platform to different models and the breadth of its partnerships with dealers, mechanics and quick lube shops.
