North American Repower and Efficient Drivetrains convert diesel fleet to Plug-in EV's
North American Repower and Efficient Drivetrains have sucessfully converted a &nbsp;fleet of 6 26,000 lb vehicles to Plug-in EV's. The vehicles will run on electricity and renewable natural gas operated by Sectran Security will be placed in to work back across traditionally in Urban and congested routes across California, where they were close to violating the states strict diesel regulations &nbsp;
North American Repower (NAR)—a California-based natural gas engine management and conversion technology company—and Efficient Drivetrains, Inc. (EDI)—a developer of plug-in hybrid electric drivetrains—will convert a fleet of six 26,000-pound, Class-5 medium-duty armored vehicles operated by Sectran Security into PHEV vehicles that run on electricity and renewable natural gas.

The Sectran Security trucks make frequent stops as part of their highly congested urban routes. At each stop, the engines are kept idling for security purposes, but now risk violating California’s strict diesel idling regulations, which prohibit idling the engine for more than five minutes. With the modernized trucks, Sectran can eliminate engine idling by operating in all-electric mode during stop-and-go operations on urban routes and in hybrid-mode during highway operations. The demonstration trucks will enable Sectran to reduce annual diesel consumption by 31,000+ gallons (more than 117 kL).

The collaboration gained additional support from the California Energy Commission, which approved a $3 million grant award from its Energy Research and Development Division, leveraging an additional $3 million in private investment and creating 5 advanced vehicle jobs.