Go Auto General News 20 Nov 2019

By RON HAMMERTON

AUSTRALIAN electric vehicle start-up SEA Electric has scored its biggest order yet – 100 electrified Hino trucks for Californian electric vehicle service provider Zeem Solutions.

And the Melbourne-based company expects more such orders from California where government rebate vouchers can cut up to 80 per cent from the price of all-electric vehicles.

The single order from Zeem will almost double the production volume achieved to date by SEA Electric which has been operating for about three years, concentrating on electric vans and trucks.

Cal tech: Melbourne-based SEA Electric has received an order for 100 electric-powered Hino 195s, similar to this SEA-powered Hino 917 EV destined for Ikea in Australia.
Californian company provides boost for Australian EV start-up SEA Electric

Based on an American-spec Hino 195 medium truck – nearly identical to the Hino 917 sold in Australia and elsewhere – the vehicles for Zeem will be fitted with the Australian-engineered powertrains in the US by a contractor, Fontaine Modifications, which has already started on the first vehicle.

Deliveries are scheduled to start in the first quarter of next year, with the remainder to be rolled out through 2020.

Australian engineers from SEA Electric have flown to California to oversee production of the initial vehicles which will be deployed by Zeem in Los Angeles and Sacramento where the company has service facilities.

Zeem will keep some of the trucks for itself, but most will go to lease customers for whom Zeem provides an EV consultancy service.

Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis said Zeem would keep spare vehicles to lessen downtime for customers during service.

“Once we have successfully deployed in Los Angeles and Sacramento, we will be rolling additional units out in San Francisco and San Diego,” he said.

The project has the blessing of Hino – Toyota’s commercial vehicle arm – which is supplying the base trucks for conversion.

In Australia, SEA Electric builds electrified Hino 917 trucks at its Dandenong South factory. So far, orders have included a delivery version for furniture giant Ikea and another truck set up as an elevated work platform for another customer.

SEA Electric also has a collaborations with Ford and with Isuzu in various markets.

The Ford project in Detroit centres on the F-59 workhorse that does a multitude of duties in the US, including postal delivery and school buses.

The Isuzu collaboration extends to South Africa where a SEA Electric-powered prototype is currently being developed.

SEA Electric also has projects in New Zealand and Thailand.

SEA Electric founder and president Tony Fairweather said his company was honoured to receive its first three-digit order from Zeem Solutions.

“Zeem Solutions are visionary in their approach to providing electric commercial vehicle offerings to their customers,” he said.

“The Hino 195 EVs will be deployed in California, a reflection on the excellent incentive program facilitated by CARB (California Air Resources Board) and Calstart (a national non-profit organisation promoting the eco-friendly vehicle industry).”

In Australia, no such incentives are on offer, making EV sales growth tougher.

The Hino 195 EVs for California get SEA Electric’s 128kW/1500Nm SEA-Drive 120a powertrain that, in this vehicle with a gross vehicle mass of more than 8.0 tonnes, should provide a driving range of about 320km.

The 120a powertrain is the third most powerful of the four SEA-Drive systems commercially available. The top-most 180a can deliver maximum power of 372kW and 3500Nm of torque – good for trucks of 18 tonnes and up.

Although SEA Electric has been operating from Dandenong South, it is planning to open a factory at Morwell in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley coal belt, with Victorian government support. READ MORE

The Australia Institute’s National Energy Emissions Audit revealed the disheartening news that growth in diesel consumption, mainly in road transport, has negated gains made in carbon emissions reduction achieved in the NEM. But one Australian automotive-engineering firm has plans to transform the light-to-medium-duty diesel-slurping vehicle sector to run cleanly and quietly on electricity.

PV Magaine Australia, November 18, 2019 by  Natalie Filatoff

The City of Yarra is an early adopter of the SEA Electric-Isuzu medium-duty 100% electric tipper truck for rubbish collection. Image: SEA Electric

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On Friday, Melbourne-based automotive technology company SEA Electric received its first three-figure order — 100 Hino 195s fitted to run on electric power — from US commercial electric vehicle (CEV) service provider Zeem Solutions.

The 100% electric medium-duty trucks will be assembled under license in the US by Fontaine Modifications which will upfit them with SEA-Drive 120a power systems. Designed in Australia, these motors deliver a range of up to 320 kilometres, 80 kW (110 horsepower) of continuous power, torque of 150 kg/m (1,500 Nm) and zero emissions.

US electric vehicle service provider, Zeem Solutions, has ordered 100 electric-powered Hino commercial vehicles under license from Australian SEA Electric. This chassis is the basis of the trucks soon to be quietly plying the streets of Los Angeles and Sacramento. Image: SEA Electric

Mechanical engineer Tony Fairweather, founder and President of SEA Electric, launched the company’s 100% electric power trains in 2017 after four years of product development and testing, at the moment when battery prices had reduced sufficiently to make electric drivetrains viable in the global market.

The company works with Hino, Isuzu, Iveco, Mercedes Benz and Dennis Eagle manufacturers to modify their commercial vehicles — rigid-chassis, two- and three-axle vans, medium-sized trucks and buses — to run on battery power.

“Battery technology has developed at an exponential rate in the past decade and prices have come down significantly, although they’re still in the range of US$250 per kilowatt hour,” Glen Walker, SEA Electric’s Regional Director for Oceania, tells pv magazine.

Radically reduced running costs

Whole-of-life operating costs make the premium paid for SEA Electric driven vehicles worthwhile on a purely economic basis, says Walker: “Even without [government] incentive, our vehicles cost less to own over the lifetime of those vehicles.”

With only one moving part — the electric motor itself — electric motors are far cheaper to run than petrol or diesel engines. “Maintenance, repairs and fuel are the three main things that have a dramatic impact on reducing that whole-of-life operating costs of our motors, to the point where the upfront purchase price premium is fully recovered in about four years; or every month if you’re on a monthly hire-purchase arrangement,” says Walker.

This year SEA Electric has made a string of announcements, including the availability of its SEA-Drive 100-powered Isuzu NPR 65-190 tipper truck; and the SEA-Drive 120b-powered Isuzu FTR-chassis elevated work platform (EWP) truck — a cherry picker with 2,500 Nm of torque, 150 kW continuous power and 250 kW maximum power.

New Zealand electricity distribution company WEL Networks was the first to purchase a SEA Electric EWP — with its motor capable of operating the elevated platform and travelling 200 km on a single charge — for use in line maintenance.

“We believe electric vehicles will play a really important part in New Zealand’s energy future,” said WEL Networks’ Chief Executive, Garth Dibley, who announced the vehicle’s deployment on 29 September. “By investing in electric trucks, we’re not only generating fewer emissions, but also helping to future proof our business and community.”

Diesel emissions run over GHG reductions in the NEM

The National Energy Emissions Audit (NEEA) for October 2019, released last month by The Australia Institute (TAI) brought home the relevance of diesel consumption in Australia. It showed that an increase in diesel combustion emissions of 21.7 Mt CO2-e — generated mainly by increases in diesel consumed by road transport and mining operations — over the period between the financial year 2011 to FY18 almost completely wipes out the decrease of 22.1 Mt CO2-e in emissions from electricity generation due to renewable generation entering the NEM over the same period.

NEEA author Hugh Saddler writes, “New and improved data shows that almost all the growth in diesel fuel is coming from increased retail sales of diesel, meaning diesel consumption by passenger and commercial vehicles.”

Road transport is a huge driver of growth in diesel consumption in Australia and resulting increasing GHG emissions. Graph: TAI

Although Australian governments have acted to improve the fuel efficiency of heavy road freight vehicles, little has been done to encourage efficiency in the light to medium-range of vehicles.

Missing electrifying incentive in Australia

SEA Electric’s Tony Fairweather notes that, “The Hino 195 EVs will be deployed in California, a reflection on the excellent incentive program facilitated by CARB and CALSTART.”

California Air Resource Board (CARB) Regulations were introduced in 2008, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the estimated one million heavy-duty trucks that operate in California and have consistently been revised to drive greater reductions in road-transport emissions; while CALSTART is a not-for-profit organisation which provides services and consulting to accelerate advanced transportation technologies.

The development of the EWP first deployed by WEL Networks was a combined project of SEA Electric and CAL Isuzu in Hamilton, New Zealand, and was partly funded by New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund.

“The aim of the Fund is to drive innovation and grow confidence in an electrified vehicle fleet,” said Richard Briggs, Manager of Programme Partnerships at EECA. “Projects like this will show other heavy vehicle operators what’s possible and encourage them to invest in decarbonising their fleets.”

Solar PV leads the charge

WEL Networks already has a fleet of electric vehicles and more than 20 electric vehicle chargers in the Waikato region where it operates. Its new EWP takes between four and eight hours to fully recharge.

Pick of the cherry pickers runs 100% on electricity for WEL Networks in NZ. Image: SEA Electric

For any single SEA Electric CEV, Walker says charging by three-phase power at any fleet depot is completely viable, and the cost of running the vehicle is further reduced if the depot or business receives part or all of its energy from renewable sources — whether generated by onsite solar, solar and battery systems, or purchased via renewable power-purchase agreements or from utilities offering renewable-energy contracts.

Installation of high-speed DC chargers represents a significant capital outlay to businesses looking to adopt a fleet of commercial electric vehicles, but utilities and councils are among the likely first movers — with their operations paid for by their constituents and community pressure to decarbonise.

The City of Yarra council, for example, is running SEA’s first electric tipper truck, based on an Isuzu NPR 65-190 platform, for its hard rubbish collection.

In suburban environments, “not having exhaust emissions is a significant practical advantage of a CEV” Walker tells pv magazine.

As batteries reduce in cost, he says, the economics become ever more persuasive, “But as the expectation and the demand for cleaner and quieter urban environments increases, the rationale becomes quite different and there becomes an imperative to doing it. It’s not just a nice to have.”

The world is your noiseless oyster

Walker, who has worked in commercial transport for many years, says he was surprised, if not shocked, by the experience of first driving an SEA commercial electric vehicle. The power and responsiveness were indistinguishable from that of a diesel engine, but the silence in the absence of engine noise was deafening.

“You can hear the radio, you hear the wind rushing past the side-view mirror, but the main thing you hear is tyre noise — I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, tyres are loud!’”

He believes drivers of electric vehicles will experience less fatigue, because of both noise and fume reduction, than those who spend their days behind the wheel of fossil-fuel-powered engines.

In urban environments, where service or delivery vehicles would be hard-pressed to cover anywhere near 200 km in a day, the currently available battery density and efficiency already makes sense, as SEA Electric’s 130-plus vehicle sales (pre Zeem Solutions’ order) in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Thailand attest.

TAI’s Hugh Saddler writes that, “Much of the public debate about climate and energy policy fails to recognise the importance of emissions from use of petroleum fuels, especially diesel, to the extent that comments often seem to suggest that energy is synonymous with electricity.”

In fact the ability of growth in diesel use and emissions to all but eliminate gains from renewable energy’s reduction of carbon emissions from the electricity sector shows that “consumption of diesel should be receiving far more attention than it has done to date in discussions of how to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions”, Saddler says. READ MORE

November 15, 2019 • by Work Truck Online Staff

Commercial electric vehicle service provider Zeem Solutions has placed an order for 100 all-electric Hino 195 EVs with automotive technology company SEA Electric.

The SEA Hino 195 EVs are powered by the SEA-Drive 120a power-system, offering 110 hp continuous power, 170 hp maximum power, and boasting a maximum torque of 1,106 lb.-ft.

With a range of up to 200 miles, zero emissions, fewer moving parts, and lower operating costs, according to SEA Electric, the 100% electric medium-duty trucks offer an innovative commercial vehicle solution for Zeem’s fleet operators.

The SEA Hino 195 EV’s are powered by the SEA-Drive 120a power-system, offering 110 hp continuous power. Photo: SEA Electric

Zeem Solutions assist fleet operators with the formulation and integration of tailored, comprehensive EV strategies to optimise operating costs when buying or leasing commercial EVs.

The 100% electric commercial EV’s will be assembled by Fontaine Modifications and deployed in California.

“We are starting in our Los Angeles and Sacramento locations because we can efficiently service our trucks as well as inventory spare vehicles to lessen downtime for customers,” said Zeem Solutions CEO Paul Gioupis. “Once we have successfully deployed in Los Angeles and Sacramento, we will be rolling additional units out in San Francisco and San Diego.”

The new trucks feature a range of up to 200 miles, zero emissions, fewer moving parts, and lower operating costs. – Photo: SEA Electric

SEA Electric’s founder and President Tony Fairweather said, “SEA Electric is honored to receive our first three-digit order from Zeem Solutions, with all units to be delivered throughout 2020 starting in the first quarter.”

The all-electric vehicles will be assembled by U.S. labor at Fontaine Modifications, with the first builds supported by SEA Electric personnel, according to Fairweather, who concluded, “Fontaine is the perfect upfitting partner for this product, with assembly already commenced on the first unit.” READ MORE

Related: SEA Electric Releases 100% Electric Tipper Truck

1 News Now NZ, 11 November 2019

1 News NZ showcases the SEA FSR EV powered by the SEA-Drive® 120b, recently deployed to Container Co to carry empty containers on short hops around the New Zealand ports.

Resident motorhead Mike Holland gets all the details on the environmentally friendly big rig. Source: Seven Sharp

Watch the 1 News Now NZ video clip BY CLICKING HERE

Diesel News, 31 October 2019

We can be in no doubt that electric trucks are the future and it’s simply a matter of how long until electric power predominates. The amount of investment by all of the major manufacturers in electric power technology is running at a rate which tells us they all believe in an electric future.

There have been a number of stories about developing electric power in Australia. SEA are putting electric power systems into trucks in Dandenong, Victoria. Customers buy a conventionally powered model, remove the diesel engine and replace it with the new powertrain.

Daimler Trucks are the first to have a truck designed to run on electric power in a truck on the roads of Australia. This Fuso eCanter was first seen on display at the Brisbane Truck Show back in May and has remained in the country to be tested by prospective big fleet customers, to examine the new truck’s potential in our market.

This is the type of truck we can expect to see going over to electric power when it first arrives in any numbers. Urban small parcel distribution. The trucks doing this work spend the day in a stop/go world and never stray too far from home base.

We know electric trucks are the future and once electric power establishes itself in this part of the market we can expect the technology to move up the weight range into the heavier medium duty distribution truck, before moving into the heavier rigids plying their trade around the streets of our cities.

It is true that battery technology is moving forward in leaps and bounds, with more storage in lighter units, with faster charging. The other factor is also that with these new batteries being sold in relatively low numbers, the cost per battery is very high. We are in a chicken and egg situation, the price of batteries will drop when the manufacturers are selling them in the hundreds of thousands and people will buy them in hundreds of thousands when the price comes down. READ MORE

October 23 2019, Giles Parkinson

SEA Electric founder Tony Fairweather joins The Driven podcast to discuss his company’s plans in Australia and overseas, and predicts that within five to 10 years, all delivery vans in Australia will be electric.

LISTEN HERE

READ MORE

3CR 855am Community Radio

14 October 2019

Presenter/Producer: Erin Jones

Erin Jones talks to SEA Electric founder and Group Managing Director Tony Fairweather about SEA’s rapid global expansion and plans to establish an assembly plant in the Latrobe Valley.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BY CLICKING HERE

Guests:

Behyad Jafari – CEO Electric Vehicle Council

Timestamp- 03:44

https://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/

https://fleets.chargetogether.org/

We speak with Electric Vehicle Council CEO Behyad Jafari about the new tool – Charge together.

Charge Together Fleets is a program to assist fleet and
sustainability managers transition to electric vehicles and future mobility models.

Tony Fairweather – SEA Electric – Group Managing Director

Timestamp – 29:53

https://www.sea-electric.com/

SEA Electric is a local success story – in the electrification of vans and light to medium commercial trucks.

Having developed their SEA Drive in Victoria, they are rapidly expanding into international markets including North American, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and Europe.

They are expanding from they Dandenong HQ to also establish an assembly plant in the La Trobe Valley.  A great initiative for a community affected by the closure of old coal infrastructure.

Also listen to our previous discussion in 2018 with Tony Fairweather from SEA Electric below:

https://www.3cr.org.au/beyondzero/episode-201808061700/sea-electric-ace-ev

ATN, 11 October 2019

Bucket truck follows tipper as electric vehicle make forges on

SEA Electric is rolling forward with a mix of vocational options that now includes an electric bucket truck.

The electric vehicle manufacturer which has gained strong local council interest in its clean-driving compactor has releases the vehicle, also known as an elevated work platform truck (EWP) or “cherry picker” truck, saying it is “powerful enough to operate the elevated boom and travel over 200km on a single charge”.

The new electric bucket truck is designed by SEA Electric’s engineering team in Melbourne and transformed from an Isuzu chassis in a combined project between SEA Electric and CAL Isuzu (Hamilton) in New Zealand.

The EV bucket truck will be deployed in New Zealand for WELNetworks, a local power company, for power line maintenance, and uses a Versalift arm.

“The electric EWP truck is beneficial to industries requiring mobile elevated platforms as it provides significant savings on diesel, servicing and maintenance, resulting in low total life operating costs,” the company says.

“The electric EWP truck is built on an Isuzu FTR chassis and can be adapted to most OEM glider platforms.

“[It is powered] by the SEA-Drive 120b power-system with a 136kWh battery capacity, producing 150kW continuous power and 250kW maximum power.

“More importantly for a commercial vehicle the SEA-Drive 120b produces maximum torque of 2,500Nm, has a range of up to 350km (unladen), with onboard three-phase charger that can be charged to 80 per cent within six hours.”

Read about SEA Electric’s pantech option and tipper comments, here

The EWP follows hard on the heels of SEA Electric claiming first to market status with the deployment of a 100 per cent electric tipper truck.

The tipper is to be used in Australia by Yarra City Council, which will point it at hard rubbish collections and is exploring how to transition to electric garbage and recycling trucks over the next five years.

SEA Electric sees urban councils as particularly suited to such electric commercial vehicles and has made some headway with council-controlled and private waste collection operations.

“Our urban environments are becoming more and more frantic, filled with noise and pollution,” SEA Electric Oceania regional director Glen Walker says.

“This electric tipper reverses the trend and instils a piece of tranquillity and cleanliness.”

The electric tipper is built on an Isuzu NPR 65-190 platform, however, the truckmaker says future orders can be adapted to most OEM glider platforms.

It is powered by the SEA-Drive 100 power-system with a 100kWh battery capacity, which produces 59kW continuous power and 108kW maximum power.

It notes that the  SEA-Drive 100 produces maximum torque of 1,000Nm, has a range of up to 275km (unladen), with onboard three-phase charger that can be charged to 80 per cent within five hours. READ MORE

The Driven, October 11 2019, Michael Mazengarb

Australian company SEA Electric had revealed the latest addition to its range of all-electric machines, launching what it says is the first electric commercial bucket truck.

Formally named the Elevated Work Platform Truck (EWP), and informally known as a ‘cherry picker’, the machine has been developed by SEA Electric to add another offering to the commercial truck market.

The SEA EWP truck has been paired with enough battery storage to fully power the operation of the elevated boom, and provide over 200km of range.

Electric vehicle alternatives have become an increasingly attractive option for fleet operators, particularly those managing vehicles that are in constant daily use, as the significantly reduced fuel costs more than offset the higher upfront purchase costs, delivering savings for businesses.

“The electric EWP truck is beneficial to industries requiring mobile elevated platforms as it provides significant savings on diesel, servicing and maintenance, resulting in low total life operating costs,” SEA Electric said in a statement.

“The communities in which this truck operates appreciate its zero noise, zero emissions and zero exhaust fumes.”

The first completed all-electric cherry picker conversions will be delivered to Wel Networks in New Zealand and will be used for power line maintenance.

The design of the cherry picker truck has been undertaken by SEA’s engineering team in Melbourne, with the actual production of the electric conversion to occur in New Zealand through a partnership between SEA Electric and CAL Isuzu (Hamilton).

SEA electric specialises in the adaptation of readily available commercial vehicles and has used the Isuzu FTR chassis as the basis of the all-electric EWP truck. SEA has designed its all-electric modifications to be adapted to most cherry picker models available on the market.

The adaptation involves the addition of a 136kWh battery, delivering a peak 250kW of instantaneous power. The power system is able to deliver up to 2,500 Nm of torque and is capable of being charged to 80% within 6 hours using a 3-phase electricity supply.

Last month, SEA Electric announced that it would commence the production of an all-electric version of the Ford F-59 van in the United States, a major step forward for the Australian company seeking to expand into a lucrative American automotive market.

In an interview with The Driven last year, SEA founder and managing director Tony Fairweather said that the company is aiming to produce up to 2,400 all-electric light commercial vehicles, as well as buses, at an assembly facility in the Latrobe Valley.

The facility is aiming to have the new assembly facility up and running by 2021. READ MORE

Australasian Fleet Management Association

By Daneil Braid, September 30, 2019 

Whilst the EV race in the commercial vehicle space is well and truly on, Australian automotive technology company SEA Electric is leading the charge being first to market with the deployment of a 100% electric tipper truck.

The new electric tipper truck will be deployed in Australia at a local city council. The Yarra City Council intends to use the electric tipper for hard rubbish collections and is exploring how to transition to electric garbage and recycling trucks over the next five years.

Urban city councils are particularly suited to electric commercial vehicles like this tipper truck produced by SEA Electric.

“Our urban environments are becoming more and more frantic, filled with noise and pollution”, said Glen Walker, SEA Electric’s Regional Director Oceania. “This electric tipper reverses the trend and instils a piece of tranquillity and cleanliness.”

The electric tipper is quiet, has zero emissions and saves significant costs through reduced fuel, servicing and maintenance expense.

The electric tipper is built on an Isuzu NPR 65-190 platform, however future orders can be adapted to most OEM glider platforms. Powered by the SEA-Drive® 100 power-system with a 100kWh battery capacity, which produces 59kW continuous power and 108kW maximum power. More importantly for a commercial vehicle the SEA-Drive® 100 produces maximum torque of 1,000Nm, has a range of up to 275km (unladen), with onboard three-phase charger that can be charged to 80% within 5 hours.

Offering a reduced overall total cost of ownership over the life of the life of the vehicle, zero emissions for improved carbon footprint and enhanced driver health and safety with low noise, low heat and no fumes.  Mid-mounted batteries for vehicle balance and safety also add to driver protection.

“The City of Yarra has made a wise and progressive choice with this electric tipper truck”, said Glen. “The drivers thank you because they will end their day more refreshed, the rate payers thank you because the electric tipper is competitive in cost over the whole of life compared with a diesel, and the environment thanks you”. READ MORE

SEA Electric is an Australian automotive technology company that locally develops and assembles 100% electric-powered vans, commuter busses, and light/medium duty rigid truck models using its proprietary SEA-Drive® power-systems.  The company is rapidly growing across the globe recently taking several commercial EV orders in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Thailand.