MONTREAL, March 9, 2022 – The Lion Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, announced several key partnerships with truck upfitters to provide new fully electrified refrigerated, dry freight and aluminum stake body options for its Lion6 zero-emission urban truck.
The new partnerships include equipment upfit options from industry leaders Morgan Truck Body, Thermo King, Knapheide and CM Truck Beds.
Several Lion6 vehicles were on display at Work Truck Week 2022 including:
- Lion6 Electrified Refrigerated Concept in partnership with Morgan Truck Body and Thermo King
- Lion6 Aluminum Platform Body 18-foot with Storage Pack in partnership with Knapheide
- Lion6 Aluminum Platform Body (26-foot)in partnership with CM Truck Beds
Additionally, Work Truck Week attendees had the opportunity to experience an all-electric lightweight and aerodynamic Lion6 Dry Freight Truck Body in partnership with Morgan Truck Body, which was available for test drives.
“The wide variety of upfit components we are debuting at this year’s Work Truck Week is proof that electrification has arrived for a broad range of truck fleet customers, from dry cargo fleets to those with temperature-sensitive requirements,” Brian Piern, Chief Commercial Officer of Lion Electric, said. “We are pleased to be working in close collaboration with four industry leaders as we continue to move toward a zero-emission future in trucking, and look forward to continuing to introduce new applications to our highly flexible class 5 to class 8 chassis vehicles.”
A Versatile and Sustainable Urban Truck Chassis
The Lion6 is a class 6 zero-emission urban truck built on the experience Lion has gained from putting over 550 heavy-duty all-electric vehicles on the road, which have covered over 9 million miles to date. Offering 200 miles of range on a single charge, the Lion6 is designed and built to be 100% electric from the ground up, with none of the engineering compromises and waste inherent to platforms retrofitted from traditional internal combustion engine designs.
The Lion6 also benefits from Lion’s proprietary battery thermal management system (BTMS), which keeps battery temperatures in the ideal operating range. The result is optimal performance in extremely hot and cold environments with minimal impact on range, as has been proven by Lion truck customers currently operating in harsh conditions in some of the coldest regions of both the U.S. and Canada.
Now, this battery technology can be leveraged not only for propulsion but to simultaneously power a vehicle refrigeration unit as well – as demonstrated by the electrified refrigerated concept truck body at Work Truck Week by Morgan Truck Body. Mounted on a Lion6 chassis and utilizing a Thermo King all-electric refrigerated unit, the concept also features a 24-foot truck body that is seamlessly integrated with Lion Electric’s vehicle systems and powered by the vehicle’s onboard batteries – eliminating emissions and noise pollution caused by diesel refrigeration units.
“Thermo King is committed to delivering our customers a fully electrified portfolio of transportation solutions for every segment of the cold chain by 2025,” Chris Tanaka, Vice President of Product Management for Thermo King Americas, said. “Partnering with respected industry leaders and technology innovators will help to further ensure that our new line of electrified products maintain the same level of quality, reliability and performance our customers expect from Thermo King.”
With new stake bed upfit options in addition to dry freight bodies, the technology of the Lion6 can be leveraged for a wide variety of vocations. Lion’s new partnership with Knapheide brings work fleets the option of an electrified lightweight aluminum 18-foot platform stake body, which also features an enclosed storage pack behind the truck cab to secure work equipment. Lion also debuted a larger stake upfit option for the Lion6 with a new 26-foot aluminum platform body in partnership with CM Truck Beds. Additionally, an innovative dry freight body from Morgan Truck Body was shown at Work Truck Week, leveraging lightweight materials for improved payload and innovative aerodynamic features such as side skirts to maximize range.
These new upfit equipment options make the Lion6 the perfect zero-emission solution for the final stage of delivery, with all of the advantages electric trucks have to offer – including an advantageous total cost of ownership in comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles. Adopting electric trucks can create significant savings for operators, thanks to lower maintenance requirements and reduced energy costs. With fewer moving parts and preventative maintenance items such as lubricants, filters, belts and more, Lion trucks offer maintenance savings of up to 60% and energy savings of up to 80%.
