http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article2363510.html Electric truck maker in Riverside revs up By STEVE EVERLY 09/30/2014
[image http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/26mmz9/picture2363509/alternates/FREE_768/OrangeEV%20al%20091814%200123f.jpg Mike Saxton (from left), Wayne Mathisen and Kurt Neutgens, all with Orange EV, conferred near one of their electric trucks at the company’s headquarters in Riverside. Orange’s trucks are former diesel models retrofitted with electric motors.ALLISON LONG/The Kansas City Star ] Kurt Neutgens worked 17 years at Ford Motor Co., including time as engineering manager for Ford’s F-150 pickup truck, but his dream was to someday develop an electric vehicle. So when Ford offered buyouts in 2006, he jumped at the opportunity. He went on to create in his garage an electric-powered Mustang, only to discover that the car was too expensive to make a business out of it. But now he believes things have fallen into place. Recently standing outside the offices of Orange EV in Riverside, a company he co-founded, Neutgens greeted potential customers who wanted to test drive the company’s electric truck. And he’s more convinced than ever that electric vehicles have a big future. “To me it’s the end game when it comes to transportation,” said Neutgens, who is president and chief technology officer of the company. Kansas City, of course, has a much higher-profile electric truck maker, Smith Electric Vehicles. But Neutgens’ company means Smith isn’t the only game in town. Smith Electric got more than $30 million in federal grants and plenty of publicity before it suspended production late last year. Its future is unclear as it seeks more funds. Orange EV has been operating more quietly since starting in 2012. It didn’t tap federal grants and moved carefully to build a prototype and test it. Now, it’s seeking buyers. Its first product is an electric terminal truck, built to pull loads of freight around places such as railroad yards and distribution centers. Orange EV completely refurbishes older terminal trucks, including a coat of new paint. The diesel engines are replaced with the motors, batteries and other components needed to make the vehicles electric-powered. “Essentially, we’re a manufacturer of industrial strength vehicles,” said Mike Saxton, Orange EV’s chief commercial officer. The vehicle has been getting some good reviews. A two-week demonstration at the BNSF intermodal freight facility in Gardner had the truck pulling 80,000-pound loads with enough power for 10 or more hours of work without a recharge. “We needed to see if Orange EV’s all-electric terminal truck could do the job and get through a shift on a single charge,” said Ron Teague, a senior vice president at ITS Technologies and Logistics, which runs the facility. “They’ve convinced our team.” The next hurdle for Orange EV is getting orders. The company has been in talks with ITS and other potential customers. It’s also holding events for test drives in Riverside. It can be a tough sell. Fleet managers often flinch at the higher up-front price for an electric truck, even if fuel savings and less maintenance make the trucks a good bet over the long term. They’re also pretty cautious when considering something new. A good market for terminal trucks is the Port of Los Angeles, which has about 4,000 trucks. About a quarter of them are alternative-fuel, but they run on natural gas. The rest are diesel-fueled, although with cleaner-burning engines than were once available. A few electric trucks have been used there in a trial, and they are viewed as having a lot of potential. But no decision has been made on whether to make a larger deployment. “They have made great strides in six to seven years,” said Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the port. But Orange EV believes the time is right, especially in locations such as distribution centers and rail yards. Wayne Mathisen has been a manager at Sprint, Embarq and CenturyLink in jobs ranging from financial management to leading a team that oversaw a fleet of 10,000 vehicles. He studied the prospects for Orange EV and decided to be a co-founder. He’s now the company’s CEO. “I fell in love with the plan,” he said. Mathisen said eventually the company could could build new and different types of trucks. But for now the focus is on refurbished terminal trucks, which can make a convincing economic case. Terminal trucks are used intensively, so the fuel savings mount more quickly. He declined to disclose the truck’s purchase price but said fuel savings along with the lower maintenance costs provide a payback of four to six years. The payback is even lower if the purchaser takes advantage of government incentives that will reduce the price of the truck. Those incentives vary across the country. Chicago has especially good incentives that could bring an Orange EV down to the price of a diesel truck. “We’re optimistic we’ll get our first customer this year,” said Mathisen. 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