Demolition required by state grant funding new electric truck
Green Mountain Power, Vermont’s largest electricity utility, today intentionally destroyed a heavy-duty truck that was well-used by a Rutland-based field electric maintenance team and replaced it with an all-electric Lion stake body truck.
The Destroy-a-Truck event took place at GHR Recycling in Pittsford, where guests got to check out the new all-electric truck. Making the old truck unusable is a requirement of a state of Vermont grant to speed replacement of fossil fuel vehicles with clean electric.
According to company information, Lion6 specs are: Range – Up-to 200 miles, Battery Capacity – Up-to 252kWh, Top Speed – 65 mph, Maximum Power – 250 kW / 335 HP, Maximum Torque – 2,500 NM / 1,800 ft-lb.
“What an amazing symbol of this first big step to electrify our entire field fleet – crushing a fossil fuel truck!” exclaimed Tiana Smith, GMP’s head of Electrification as the team at GHR recycling spent ten minutes flattening the old truck. “This new all-electric truck and an all-electric line truck on its way will displace about 100 tons of carbon emissions per year, all while making the grid more flexible and resilient and reducing costs for all GMP customers through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging.”
Driving with fossil fuels is the largest source of carbon pollution in Vermont, about 40% according to the latest data from the Energy Action Network, so any time drivers switch to clean electric it helps the state reach its climate goals. Vermont provided a grant of about $915,000 in VW settlement funds to help launch GMP’s fleet-wide switch away from fossil fuel, and GMP will gather data for the state on truck performance and charging, as well as emissions reductions.
Roger Bathalon has been driving trucks for 25 years and works in substation operations at GMP. He will be regularly using the new electric truck and attended the truck crushing event. He says he’s not sad to see the old truck go. “The new truck is pretty cool. There’s a lot of pick up and it has a real smooth and quiet ride,” he said.
The stake body truck has 200 miles of range. The trucks will reduce both carbon and noise pollution in communities where GMP works to keep Vermonters powered up. A 60% reduction in maintenance and an 80% drop in fuel costs is also expected because like all electric vehicles, the new trucks have no combustion engines. GMP will further help to reduce costs by about $100,000 for all GMP customers with V2G charging, allowing the truck batteries to share energy with the grid during peak usage times.
Vermont Daily Chronicle questioned GMP yesterday about utility plans to recharge the trucks in the event of a widespread, lengthy power outage. Spokesperson Kristin Kelly was asked about backup power supply, and answered: “There is a charger in Rutland where the truck will be based. As I mentioned, this truck has 200 miles of range, more than enough for the work by this truck. It can also charge at any Level 3 fast charger in the state.”
VDC then asked: “How about a power source when the power goes out – say for a day or so. Is there non-grid tied power generation available (diesel generator, etc.?)”
Kelly answered: “The truck would be powered up enough and as I said, there are fast chargers across the state. We also have storage to help on backup power too if that were ever needed.”
A Green Mountain Power press release provided most of the content for this news story.