The portable charging stations can serve as a bridge for fleet operators committed to BEVs, Shyft says. Shyft engineers began working on the Power Cube after fleet operators told them it could take 18 to 24 months to install charging stations at their facilities. The Shyft Group also is refining development of the Power Cube (pictured, below), a fully portable EV charging system that can be moved onto the property of BEV fleet operators and recharge up to 20 vehicles at once. Prices for the Blue Arc van are expected to range from $160,000 to $185,000. The Blue Arc chassis also can be used for shuttle buses and even RVs, he says. The result is the Blue Arc van, which is specifically designed for fleet operators whose drivers cover the last mile between a warehouse or depot and the final customer.
With the transportation industry’s switch to electrified vehicles picking up momentum, the Shyft Group launched development of its own battery-electric chassis in the summer of 2021, Adams says. Most of the vehicles were built at the company’s plant in Bristol, IN, but Shyft also operates in 18 other locations and has more than 3,800 employees. The company’s revenue grew to $992 million in 2021 when it built nearly 20,000 vehicles for various customers, including package delivery companies and makers of recreational vehicles. “We know innovation and electrification,” says Adams, noting Shyft has built vehicles with alternative powertrains for more than two decades. The divestiture provided the speed and flexibility needed to further focus on accelerating growth and profitability in the commercial, fleet, delivery and specialty-vehicles markets, where Shyft sees the biggest opportunities to generate higher returns, Adams says. Shyft already has a strong position in the business, as it supplies half the cargo vans used by companies such as Amazon, Federal Express and UPS.įounded in 1975, Spartan Motors changed its name in 2020 after selling off its emergency-vehicle business to the REV Group so it could specialize in commercial vehicles. The Novi, MI-based company has begun taking pre-orders, he says.Ĭommercially oriented, last-mile delivery vans are likely to be the first segment in the transportation industry to move completely to battery-electric vehicles.
The builder of specialty vehicles expects to deliver its new Blue Arc delivery van to customers next summer, according to Daryl Adams, Shyft president and CEO. Like other legacy vehicle manufacturers across Michigan, the Shyft Group, formerly Spartan Motors, is making the move to electric vehicles.
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