Electric Mail Delivery Vehicles From Toyota
For the suits in charge of Toyota, the only clear path forward for
sustainable transportation are supposedly hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
That doesn’t mean the Japanese automaker is totally ignoring
battery-electric vehicles, especially for short inner-city trips. The Toyota i-Road electric three-wheeler has already started testing in a carsharing service, and now four single-seat postal delivery vehicles will begin a similar pilot program, reports the Wall St. Journal.
Called the Coms, Toyota rates its delivery vehicle at 50 km/31 miles
of range, enough for delivering the day’s mail in a small radius around
the post office itself. It can hold up to 60 kgs/132 lbs, in addition to
a single driver, and its small stature allows it to navigate all but
the narrowest alleys along its route.
One would think that with such a short range and small battery,
charging times would be similarly lessened, but Toyota quotes a time
from empty-to-full as six hours. I suppose that doesn’t matter much if
Japanese post offices are anything like America’s (rarely open and
always frustrating), but it doesn’t exactly scream “cutting edge!”
either.
I guess that’s the thing with Toyota and EVs — they’re just not that
into vehicle electrification, unless it’s on the back of hydrogen fuel
cells. But it hardly seems like they’re giving EVs a fair shake either,
if their best efforts can only go about 30 miles and take a quarter of a
day to recharge.
Courtesy: cleantechnica , EV Obsession
