FedEx is aggressively investigating alternative propulsion for its worldwide fleet and this vehicle might just be the most interesting: an honest-to-goodness all-electric delivery truck with a 100-mile range and cool look.
By the end of June, FedEx will be packing an alt-energy fleet of 1,869 vehicles, which considering the total fleet numbers around 43,000, is a fairly respectable effort for technologies charitably described as "in infancy." There will be two sets of electric trucks, one set manufactured by Navistar in Indiana and looking like the above and another built by an as-yet unnamed manufacturer. This is a pilot program, so the numbers are tiny; Think two trucks each in London and Paris, another five in LA, etc. There's good reason for the small numbers, the batteries are sized to last a full 8-hour shift and cost as much as a luxury car. The upside though is lower maintenance cost, cheap refueling, quiet operation and a truck that can operate inside buildings without restriction.
A bigger upside? Let's say these things go to mass production, at the end of the chassis service life you'll be able to get monster torque electric motors and huge batteries for practically nothing on Craigslist. Use your imagination. [Fast Company]