Chanje, a newly formed California-based commercial electric vehicle and energy solutions company, has announced plans to introduce a medium-duty all-electric truck available at mass scale in the U.S. market. This initial medium-duty vehicle already has volume orders and will be delivered later this year, the company said.
The new company will be led by Chief Executive Officer Bryan Hansel, as well as the following executives:
- Ian Gardner, president – previously with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Duke Energy, Los Angeles Clean Tech Incubator and others
- Joerg Sommer, chief operating officer – previously SVP at Volkswagen, Daimler, Renault and others
- James Chen, vice president and general counsel – previously VP at Tesla, two of Washington, D.C.’s top law firms, the U.S. EPA and others
- Jeff Robinson, vice president of manufacturing – previously with Tesla, Ford, Mazda, General Motors and others
- Suresh Jayanthi, vice president of Energy Services – previously with Schneider Electric and others
Chanje says that its truck, the V8070 (seen above), is designed to be all-electric from the ground-up and developed to meet global quality and durability standards. A ground-up designed EV can be produced economically at scale and provides substantially improved safety, reliability, and energy efficiency. As a result, customers could see up to 70% lower maintenance costs and 70% savings in fuel costs versus a diesel equivalent.
Chanje says its vehicles have demonstrated greater than 50 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) fuel economy in city and highway driving when tested by independent third-parties. The company’s last-mile electric vehicles approach targets highly populated urban areas where pollution and noise are a mounting concern. Replacing a diesel truck with an electric vehicle will save as much CO2 emissions as 20 acres of U.S. forest would absorb in one year, according to the company.
The company also announced that Ryder Systems Inc. will be the exclusive sales channel partner and service provider for Chanje trucks. Ryder has placed its initial order of Chanje vehicles, the first of which will be distributed to Ryder locations in strategic U.S. markets and be available for ChoiceLease customers. Additionally, a portion of the new vehicles will be added to Ryder’s commercial rental fleet so that customers will have the opportunity to experience Chanje’s advanced vehicle technology on a short-term basis.
“We believe electric vehicles will play a major role in the future of commercial transportation and we are proud to partner with Chanje to bring an all-electric medium duty vehicle to market,” said Dennis Cooke, President, Global Fleet Management Solutions for Ryder. “Through our strategic partnership, Ryder and Chanje will collaborate to promote energy efficiency and innovation in the industry. Chanje offers an innovative product that will help reshape the industry by making commercial electric vehicles more affordable, reliable, and accessible.”
For more information, visit the Chanje website.
