World’s first electric ute?

If all goes well, this electric ute will beat Tesla to the market

Launched last week in California, this working prototype is called the Workhorse W-15. It is a dual-cab four-wheel drive electric ute with a range of 130 kilometres.

It will go from zero to 100km/h in around 5.5 seconds and has a towing capacity of over 2200kg.

For weight saving the panels are made of carbon fibre and whole thing will cost you around $52,000 in the US.

Workhorse is an Ohio-based manufacturer which is more widely known for building UPS trucks and its own electric car. The company hopes to sell the W-15 as a cost-effective electric alternative to complement fleets around the country. And at the launch, Workhorse’s CEO Steve Burns said the company was holding pre-orders for 5000 vehicles.

“Over the life of one of these vehicles of, say, ten or 12 years, the whole cost of ownership will less than any comparable vehicle on the market,” Burns said.

In terms of safety, Burns said that the W-15 rated highly: “We don’t have a big engine up front, so we have extensive crumple zones in the vehicle for safety,” He said. “And with the batteries in middle of the vehicle we have a low centre of gravity for cornering or lane changing. We also have [things like] auto braking and lane-departure warning.”

Burns added that if customers were worried about the range, or if they wanted to do extensive towing or load hauling, a three-cylinder petrol generator could be optioned to increase the range.

Full production of the W-15 is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018.

World’s first electric ute?

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