An Escondido-based startup is betting that electric engines will become the power plant of choice at ports and other cargo facilities and they are bringing a product to market at what may be the best possible time.
From the outside, this school bus sitting in the north San Diego County TransPower facility looks like any other. But lift the hood and the difference is obvious. Several gray boxes sit where a diesel-powered engine used to be.
In fact, TransPower technicians physically remove the emission spewing diesel engines from buses, cargo haulers and trucks, and they replace the parts with electric engines.
The company's engineers have built an electric power-plant system that can slip into the space formerly occupied by the diesel engine.
"To the operator, it's just another truck," said Joshua Goldman, TransPower's vice president of sales and marketing.
"In fact, there are 2,000 longshore workers at the ports of California that any given Sunday could jump into any given diesel or electric truck, so it needs to feel just like any other truck. They need to do it without retraining," Goldman said.
The TransPower vehicles look the same and they are designed to be similar, but it is clear they are different when the accelerator is pushed to the floorboard.
Instead of the rumble of a diesel power plant, the vehicle emits a high-pitched whine as it picks up speed. There is no gear shifting or black smoke.
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The electric vehicles have powerful electrical engines that can haul up to 80,000-pound payloads, but they create just a whisper of the sound generated by comparable diesel vehicles.
And the technology is getting better.
"From the initial batteries we bought six years ago, to the batteries today, it's 1,000 times more reliable. The quality is much better. We don't have to weed out weak cells in the system. We provide a more reliable truck to our customers," Goldman said.
Costs are coming down
Those technological jumps are coupled with lower costs.
The batteries in TransPower's first trucks cost about $1 million per vehicle. A new truck today gets a battery system that's twice as powerful for $150,000 to $200,000.
"The big picture is that electric power makes a lot more sense to use for most vehicles," said Mike Simon, who founded TransPower in 2010.
He gives California's push for clean air a lot of credit for driving his company's innovations.
TransPower is enjoying success because it is working on the right product at the right time.
"More investors and private companies have become interested in this space because they see the costs coming down, for batteries especially. And they see that consumers want choices that are healthy for the environment," Simon said.
The trucks rolling out of the Escondido company's front door still have a long way to go.
California subsidies aimed at cleaning up pollution on port properties help bring down the final cost of the vehicles. Without that financial help, the vehicles would be three times as expensive as comparable diesel trucks, but Simon sees that changing sooner rather than later.
Money will mark the tipping point
"There will be a turning point where the public subsidies will be reduced and more and more of the investments will come from the private sector just because it's naturally more cost effective to do this," Simon said
And there's a potentially huge market. San Diego has a small port, but the Port of Long Beach is a massive facility that uses thousands of trucks. And there's the potential that electric trucks could make inroads in the long-haul market.
"We're going to see steady and slow growth for the next five years as the technology matures and the prices start to come down. After five years we might see more rapid growth," said Kevin Wood of San Diego's Center For Sustainable Energy.
The government incentives are the current market drivers, but falling costs, rising reliability and the push for cleaner air could take over that.
"As long as people are buying stuff we need a way to move that stuff around and so there's really no alternative to cleaning up the freight sector," Wood said.
Wood expects this niche market to grow slowly over the next few years, with that growth picking up speed in four or five years.
TransPower could be one of the companies leading that charge.
>> A company is helping fuel change in the nations cargo moving industry, trounce power is betting that electric engines will become the powerplant of choice, act ports and other cargo facilities. Environment reporter Eric has details. >> From the outside, the school bus looks like any other. But, lift the hood, and the difference is obvious. Gray boxes it were a diesel powered engine used to be. In fact, transpired technicians physically remove the admissions spewing [ Inaudible ] what they have taken out of this truck, is this huge diesel engine. What they are going to do, is they are going to replace that diesel engine with their electric components, it will just slide right in here. >> The company's engineers have built an electric system that can slip into the space where the diesel engine used to be. Joshua Goldman stands next to a cargo hauler that is inside the companies Escondido can facility. >> To an operator, it is just another truck. >> There are 2000 longshore markers that any given Sunday could jump into any given diesel truck. It needs to feel just like any other truck. >> The trans power vehicles look the same on the outside, and they are designed to be similar. It's clear they are different, when a driver hits the accelerator. That wine is the truck picking up speed, the vehicles have powerful electrical engines, that can haul up to 80,000 pound payloads. But they create just a whisper of the sound generated by comparable diesel vehicles. Goldman says electric technology is getting better. >> The initial batteries we bought six years ago to the batteries today, it is 1000 times more reliable. >> Those technological jumps are coupled with lower costs. The batteries and trance powers first trucks cost about $1 million per vehicle. A new truck today gets a battery system that is twice as powerful, for 150 to 200 thousand dollars. >> The big picture is that electric power makes a lot more sense to use for most types of vehicles. Mike Simon found a trans power back in 2010. He says California has pushed for clean air it's a lot of credit for driving his company's innovations. Simon says trans power is enjoying success because it is working on the right product out the right time. >> More investors and private companies have become interested in the space, because they see the cost coming down for batteries, especially. They see that consumers want choices that are healthy for the environment. >> The trucks rolling out of the Escondido company's front door still have a long way to go. California subsidies, a duct cleaning up pollution on poor properties, help bring down the final cost of the vehicle, but without that financial help, they would be three times as expensive as a comparable diesel vehicle. Simon sees that changing sooner, rather than later. >> There will be a turning point, where the public subsidies will be reduced, and more and more of the investments will come from the private sector, just because it naturally is cost-effective to do this. >> There is a potentially huge market. San Diego has a small port, but the port of Long Beach is a massive facility that uses thousands of trucks. There is the potential that electric trucks could make roads into the long-haul market. Kevin what is a clean transportation specialist out the San Diego Center for sustainable energy. He says momentum is building. >> We are going to see steady and slow growth for the next five years. As the technology matures. >> What says government incentives are the current markets drivers, but falling costs, rising reliability, and the push for cleaner air, could overtake that. >> As long as people are buying stuff, we need a way to move that stuff around. So, there is really no alternative to cleaning up the freight sector. >> What expects this niche market to grow slowly, with that growth picking up speed in 4 to 5 years. Trans power could be one of the companies leading the charge. Eric Anderson, K PBS news.
