Phoenix Motorcars Electric Sport Utility Truck
Sponsored links:
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FUEL ECONOMY:
n/a MPG n/a L/100km
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BODY TYPE:
Pickup
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TECHNOLOGY:
Electric
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BASE MSRP:
$45,000

This SUT is a practical all-electric truck that offers a 1,000 pounds of payload capacity, 120 horsepower performance capable of 0-60 mph in less than 10 seconds, and top speeds of 95 mph. The vehicle, which sells for about $45,000, is headed to the consumer market.
Phoenix Motorcars, based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., takes an outsourced distributed approach to building its all-electric Sports Utility Truck (SUT). The vehicle platform—all the metal, glass, and components, except for an engine and fuel system—is supplied by Ssangyong, Korea’s fourth largest automaker. (Ssangyong doesn’t sell cars in the United States). For the SUT’s 100 kW electric motor system, Phoenix taps UQM Technologies, which has 25 years of experience in building high-performance motors, generators, and controllers. The rechargeable batteries are supplied by Altair Nanotechnology, and the vehicle integration is completed by Boshart Engineering. The Boshsart relationship has run into legal problems.
The results? A practical truck that offers a 1,000 pounds of payload capacity, 120 horsepower performance capable of 0-60 mph in less than 10 seconds, and top speeds of 95 mph. Plug the vehicle into a 220-volt outlet (like the one used for your electric home clothes dryer) for about six hours using the on-board charger to achieve about 130 miles of range. Phoenix Motorcars sells the vehicle for about $45,000, but only to fleet-buyers for now. The company has ambitious plans to produce 6,000 units for the consumer market in 2008.

not bad idea, you'd have to run new lines to the garage for the charging system. This looks like a truck I could use for both business (real estate) and personal use.
I agree, it's a good concept vehicle and is a great way to tell Detroit "if you won't do it, then we will".
What I don't get is the presence of the word "practical" and the price of $45,000 in the same sentence. So either the truck is practical, or is it $45,000, for it can't be both.
A price premium of between 100 and 200 percent is the only thing impractical about any EV in production right now.
I'm as great or greater a proponent of EVs than anyonw. But when you call this $45,000 truck "practical" you signal to the average consumer that this is what you can expect EVs to cost. It suggests that we don't think we have any more work to do before we expect people to start buying these things, and that's not only wrong, it is not helpful to the "cause", so to speak.
Yeah, these folks have come up with an innovative and intriguing electric pick-up truck. And I'd bet money that some day it will be practical as well. But at $45,000, it is absolutely not practical (unless it can fly, or is amphibious, or has some other capabilities you won't find in a $15,000 truck).
Considering that you can buy some fancy, regular pick-up trucks and SUVs for close to that price, I don't think $45,000 is too far out of line.
Practicality refers to how the vehicle can be used. This truck can be loaded up with gear and still perform. Whether it costs $10,000 or $100,000, it's still useful (i.e. practical).
Cost effectiveness is a totally different argument.
While 45,000 for a pick-up is out of my range, others who are capable AND who want to make a statement or to endorse the technology can buy this truck. I agree that this could be the beginning (along with my favorite concept car, the Volt) of a trend for the future.
Fit a engine, reduce the range from 130 mile to 10 miles, sell it for $20K and it will sell well.
Even at 10 miles / day and driven 300 days / year, we can drive 3,000 miles on all electric range in a year.
Plugin Hybrid is way to go.
I don't understand why Toyota has not come out with a mid size hybrid truck (Tacoma). I don't need a truck for huge hauling, just every other Saturday household projects. 16/20 mpg sheeezzz.
Any chance this vehicle could be charged by an appropriate solar electric array?
Well, I'm so glad it's practical, somewhat affordable, and more readily available. I just wish it was all American. With our economy the way it is, we need people to be spending their big bucks on American made items.
American manufacturers seem to have great ideas, but cost way to much and/or won't be available for years yet.
Come on Detroit!
I want one. I am a pickup truck guy with econo fuel wants. I would love to be on the customer list to purchas this truck. Please contact me ! ! ! !
Where is the electric pick up, with a tiny multi fuel or all alcohol generator. Forgoing a bit of lead battery weight and extending the range past a plug in charge. A combustion generator may very well be cheaper than a huge battery array. Getting the market closer to a 15,000 dollar truck. Would it work? This is the way trains work without a plug, submarines into the 1960s worked this way as well.
I would love to own one of these. It is too bad that they are only available for fleet owners and not for sale in Canada. My average truck costs approximately $120.00+ to fill up both tanks. Here in British Columbia it will up to $1.40-$1.50 a litre by the summer time. For those that are interested there are 3.78 litres per 1 imperial gallon. It will end up being $5.29-$5.67 per galllon. I have two gas tanks that have a combined total of 105 litres, it will cost me $147.00-$157.50 to fill the tank. Which last about five days of driving. My average fuel cost will be $882.00-$945.00 a month by this summer. The cost would never reach that with electricity. Not only that I can set up it up with my hydro company to pay a fixed rate per month. The cost would be even cheaper if it were possible to recharge the batteries with solar panels or wind turbines. I really like Addison's comment of having extra batteries so that a person would not be hampered by the milage limitation. The only negative that I might have is that when load up my truck it is never under 1,500 pounds. The box on the truck also looked only six feet long. It will rule out a large portion of working people that need an eight foot box. Mind you I could be wrong about the length of the box. The photo doesn't do the truck justice. As for the cost of the truck, here in Canada trucks cost between $25,000.00-75,000.00. $45,000.00 is not bad.
can anybody help me to make this concept an pratical.
Self power generator
This concept is about generating electric power continuously without using any source of fuel, hydropower, thermal power, or nuclear reactor, this system consist of few know machinery which are assembled together, which are inter dependent to each other so that once the system is ON there is continuously generation of electric power take place.
hi iam from ont. canada and would love to know about your ELECTRIC HAFTTON I THINK ITS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN A LONG TIME hope to hear from you soon andy
3.78 litres per US gallon.
4.55 litres per Imperial gallon.
Just thought that may affect your calculations.
put a 4 cyl gas engine in it. just in case you're somewhere without a place to plug it in.
regarding the two battery idea. you realize that a normal car battery wieghs about 40 pounds, and that the batter cells for an all electric vehicle would be at least 20 times (conservatively) as large. thus your "swappable" battery would be 800 pounds!!! that's not something I intend to move around and swap out.
and what the heck is the guy talking about with a "self powered generator" that's like saying perpetual motion. dream on it's impossible.
I'm on the list for this vehicle. It will not replace my F-350 or my wife's Tahoe completely. But for all the local driving @ 0.08 cents per KWH that we pay for electricity, this vehicle would cost just under one penney per mile to opperate. (According to their website the car goes 3.78 miles per KWH.) If I only drove this vehicle & not the other two, I would save over 8 thousand dollars in fuel costs PER YEAR!
My only hope is that their technology is good & this isn't full of wishfull thinking.
We'll see..........
With as of today via CNBC, oil prices have been quoted to rise between $150-$200 a barrel. That means prices at the pump, in the U.S. doubling from $3.60-$3.80 a gal. to well over $7.00 a Gal.
WE HAVE TO GET OFF THE ADDICTION FOR THIS OIL "NOW." Hats off to those innovative, visionaries willing and able to take on the auto industory, the FAT oil companies willing to invision, develope, with new concepts, thinking "outside the box" and bring to market, products such as this truck.
It's rather pricie but, what's our alternative....
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