A win for Oregon, the environment, and the transportation industry
Posted by Karen Thomas on Sat, May 29, 2010 @ 06:20 PM
Portland, Oregon conjures many a thought. Rain comes to mind as does endless views of cascading pines, bubbling creeks, stormy beach fronts, and a couple of top notch college football programs. Portland, as well as several other cities in the state of Oregon are well known for their environmental activism. Considering its eco-friendly outlook, what better city for Navistar, Inc. to showcase its own eco-friendly truck, the eStar all-electric.
According to the company website, Navistar, Inc. is, " a leading producer of medium trucks, heavy trucks, severe service vehicles. Our products, parts and services are sold through a network of nearly 1,000 dealer outlets in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico and more than 60 dealers in 90 countries throughout the world," (www.navistar.com.)
The eStar all-electric vehicle, "has a GVWR of 12,100 lbs, with a payload capacity of 4,000 lbs. The front axle is rated at 5,730 lbs with a rear axle rating of 7,053 lbs. Steering is electro-hydraulic power assisted, providing a turning circle of 36 feet. And while doing all this, the eStar doesn't produce a single emission.
Production and the ability to bring the electric vehicles to market happened quickly. It was less than a year ago - last August to be exact - when President Barack Obama visited Navistar's manufacturing plant in Indiana to announce a $39.2 million federal stimulus grant to build electric trucks. A summer later and the city of Portland will be outfitted with 0-emission producing electric trucks that can pull their own weight and then some.