At The Work Truck Show in Indiana, which runs through this Friday, Ford announced an expansion of its Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM) program that will lead to electric- and hydraulic-hybrid versions of its commercial vehicles. Importantly, those hybridized work trucks will offer a factory powertrain warranty.
The expansion of Ford’s existing QVM program is dubbed “eQVM,” and it gives three developers the automaker’s blessing to make hybrids of Ford’s commercial truck models.
“Ford supports electrification for a variety of vehicle types,” says Ford Sustainability and QVM Program Manager Richard Cupka Jr. “The eQVM program extends that support to the vocational truck industry where customers need relatively small numbers of specialized vehicles – there is no one-size-fits-all work truck.”
The three hybrid-system developers approved through Ford’s eQVM program are:
- XL Hybrids, which makes electric-hybrid systems for the Ford Transit, E-350 and E-450 chassis, F-250 through F-750 trucks, and F-53 and F-59 stripped chassis, plus a plug-in-hybrid system for the F-150
- Motiv Power Systems, which offers a battery-electric powertrain for the E-450 and F-59 chassis
- Lightning Hybrids, which makes a hydraulic-hybrid energy-recovery system for the E-350 and E-450 chassis, F-350 through F-750 trucks, and F-59 chassis
Ford is, of course, working on its own hybrid version of the F-150 light-duty pickup, expected to launch in 2020.
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