It seems like just yesterday I was first introduced to the Modec-- an electric truck headed to the U.S. from England-- by a rather eccentric and yet altogether fitting indoor test drive.
The Modec gets its good looks from its mother-- the London taxi cab!
I took my silent spin in a Modec back in February at the National Truck Equipment Assn. (NTEA) Work Truck Show in Atlanta and my write-up ran in our April print edition but may be read online here.
At the NTEA show, the chairman of Coventry-based Modec Limited, Jamie Lord Borwick, stated that the OEM, whose roots are in the manufacture of London's iconic black cabs, was exploring its options but gave no definitive time frame for when it might enter the truck market here.
Yet now I hear tell from William Doelle, director of business development for the young truck maker‘s U.S. operation, that "in part owing to the favorable comments from journalists, and our winning the innovative product of the year [award] at the Work Truck Show, we have moved up our U.S. launch date... We are going to launch a select fleet of 50 Modecs-- or more-- in Washington DC starting in January of 2009.”
Now, upon reading that, who out there doubts the power of the press AKA the "media"? Not to mention that of NTEA awards!