Emissions & Efficiency

Electric delivery van startup aims straight for last-mile 'revolution'

Aug. 10, 2017

There's a new medium-duty delivery van maker in town, and its name is change. Err, make that Chanje — same pronunciation — and the California company said it can produce its unibody construction, all-electric panel van "at mass scale" and already has volume orders to fill.

Aaron Marsh

Chanje noted it co-developed the new V8070 van with Hong Kong-based FDG Electric Vehicle Limited and claimed the vehicle can save up to 70% on maintenance and fuel costs compared with a diesel van. "We have an opportunity to meaningfully overhaul the last-mile industry and completely revolutionize how that facet of transportation impacts the environment," Chanje CEO Bryan Hansel stated in a release.

It's quite a tall order, and whether the company can fill it — or EVs will be able to turn some greater momentum this year into real traction in trucking — remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the company said it ambitiously plans to offer "energy as a service" renewable energy and charging capabilities for large fleet customers, including charging infrastructure, energy storage and grid services.

The V8070 is the first offering, but the EV maker contended it will "subsequently introduce a full range of electric models including larger trucks and shuttle buses in a variety of lengths and capacities, all aimed at the urban vehicle market." What's more, Chanje is hunting for a U.S. assembly plant site, the company said, in "multiple states near port facilities west of the Mississippi."

Here's more in a video introducing the V8070:

About the Author

Aaron Marsh

Before computerization had fully taken hold and automotive work took someone who speaks engine, Aaron grew up in Upstate New York taking cars apart and fixing and rewiring them, keeping more than a few great jalopies (classics) on the road that probably didn't deserve to be. He spent a decade inside the Beltway covering Congress and the intricacies of the health care system before a stint in local New England news, picking up awards for both pen and camera.

He wrote about you-name-it, from transportation and law and the courts to events of all kinds and telecommunications, and landed in trucking when he joined FleetOwner in July 2015. Long an editorial leader, he was a keeper of knowledge at FleetOwner ready to dive in on the technical and the topical inside and all-around trucking—and still turned a wrench or two. Or three.

Aaron previously wrote for FleetOwner.