CityFreighter recently premiered its fully electric CF1 truck, and XPO Sales responded by increasing its presale purchase agreement from 100 to 500 of the medium-duty vehicles.
The clean-tech startup says the CF1 offers “outstanding innovations to serve the last-mile requirements of fleet operators.”
Select highlights of the prototype truck include:
- A low-floor cargo area platform of only 43 centimeters (17 inches)
- Compact dimensions of 21x9x7 feet and a GVWR of 5 tons
- Entirely keyless operation
- 100 mile plus driving range
- A modular cargobox
- Industry-leading TCO
“We are very excited about the great response we got at the ACT Expo, and our continued partnership with XPO Sales,” said Michael Schoening, president of CityFreighter.
“We further believe that the CF1 will set new standards in the industry. We want to show our vision how a commercial vehicle for the last mile should be designed. Beyond just changing the combustion engine, we believe that we need to focus on delivering intelligent and highly customizable solutions for our customers and their challenging markets.”
The payload capacity is 2.4 tons, with a minimum of 710 cubic feet, all based on the truck’s 17-inch low-floor design, the company said. To achieve that capacity, the rear axle is equipped with an electric air suspension, eliminating the need for an electric lift system, reducing loading/unloading times, and lessening driver strain.
And CF1’s all-electric foundation is only one factor, said CityFreighter, which also integrated customized, modular designs across throughout truck, from cabin and driver ergonomics, and battery and drive-train, to a multi-purpose, modular cargo box. The CF1 connects to route-optimization and goods-tracking systems, too.
This integrated, design-driven model enables a broad range of vehicle hardware and software development choices specific to the needs of customers, the company claimed. CityFreighter also plans to add autonomous functions as well.
The vehicle still was in the early design stage on paper only 10 months ago, the company said. Now it’s looking to scale up while focusing on the US as its first commercial market.
“We are very pleased to watch the enormous progress of the CityFreighter team within a very short time-frame, and we are very impressed with the prototype they unveiled to the world at the ACT Expo,” said Remo Weber, CEO at XPO Sales.
“Therefore, it has been no question for us to increase our commitment to CityFreighter to 500 trucks and to strengthen our partnership with this innovative company.”