An electric truck development was undertaken by Grumman Allied Industries to prepare for the markets of the 1980’s. Grumman has built 150,000 aluminum truck bodies and is using this technology to create a light weight vehicle to assist in the national goal of reducing foreign oil imports.
The first year’s experience produced the lesson of what not to do. A redesigned unitized, all aluminum body and a new propulsion system resulted in the desired vehicle. The vehicle meets the requirements of the U.S. Postal Service and the DOE Demonstration program. This paper describes the development program to meet Grumman’s goal of placing a truly utilitarian and serviceable vehicle that will readily meet customer acceptance.
The unitized chassisless structure is designed to take major driving loads. Design features and performance characteristics are enumerated. Safety and service considerations have been incorporated into the vehicle.
