Nemo Motors Corp., a Canadian manufacturer of recyclable electric utility vehicles located in the Province of Quebec, has just announced the delivery of its truck to the Government of Quebec. The truck is slated to shuttle documents among buildings on the National Assembly Campus in Quebec City, Canada.
The specifications for the Nemo Truck indicate it has a governed max speed of 25 mph and a range of 70 miles, placing it squarely in the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) category. We haven't discussed these types of vehicles much, but they do represent a viable segment of the EV marketplace, although their limited capabilities relegate them to golf courses, retirement communities and college / government facilities. One benefit is their carrying capacity, allowing them the ability to function as small freight / service vehicles for on-site support. Zap Electric Vehicles, located in Santa Rosa, CA, offers a similar vehicle, the ZAPTRUCK XL, but only half the range. UPS recently renewed their lease of ZAP's electric trucks for a third consecutive year. Given ZAP's recent expansion into China, it appears the neighborhood electric vehicle is here to stay.
I suppose one exception is ZENN, who recently decided to end production of their NEV, but they hope to build their company around electric propulsion systems based on EESTOR's EESU, an energy storage device based on a revolutionary new capacitor, instead of batteries. Time will tell whether changing horses midstream was a wise move for ZENN.
[Source: Press Release]
