New E-Chassis Launches With Champion

Motiv Power Systems announced it has begun sales of its all-electric EPIC 4 Series Dearborn chassis with Champion Bus, a REV Group company. The electric shuttles will debut in the Challenger EV body manufactured by Champion in Imlay City, Mich. The EPIC chassis-equipped Champion Challenger EV is based on the Ford E-450 platform.

Motiv Power System said its Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis (EPIC) is a body-ready, all-electric chassis for use in medium-duty vehicles. The EPIC chassis is CARB certified and is equipped with Motiv Power’s Adaptive Battery Controller.  The EPIC all-electric chassis family is available for a variety of medium-duty body applications, including walk-in vans, box trucks, school buses, shuttle buses, work trucks, and specialty vehicles.

The Adaptive Battery Controller is battery agnostic, Motiv Power said, allowing fleets to use a preferred battery chemistry and technology.  It is designed to maintain a balance of power and energy usage throughout vehicle duty cycle and allows the vehicle to be configured with the specific energy needed for the application. Application specific configurations give users the ability to control speed, power, and more, the company said.  Motiv is a Ford eQVM-approved provider of all-electric chassis for commercial trucks and buses.

There are three EPIC lines, the 4, 5 and 6 Series.  The EPIC 4 Series is based on the Ford E-450 platform, has a 14,500 lbs. GVWR chassis rating and a range of 75 miles.  It has an 85 or 106 kWh battery pack capacity delivering 150/200 hp of power.  Top speed is 60 mph.  The chassis uses Level II charging and can charge to 50% in two hours or 75% in four hours.

The 5 Series, according to Motiv Power, is based on the Ford F-59 platform and has a 19,500 lbs. GVWR chassis rating.  It has a range of up to 90 miles and has 106 or 127 kWh battery pack capacity/ 180 kW / 240 hp power.  It has, depending on the configuration, a top speed of  60 mph.  Using Level II charging, it has 2.5 hours 50% charge time and four hour, 75% charge time.

The 6 Series is based on Ford F-59 and F-53 platforms with a 26,000 lbs. GVWR chassis rating and a 90 mile range.  It has 106 or 127 kWh battery pack capacity and 180 kW / 240 hp power.  Top speed is again 60 mph.  Charge times are the same as the Series 5.

“Both from an economic and carbon reduction standpoint, we have strong demand for clean energy alternatives to gasoline and diesel in the shuttle bus market,” said David Rhode, vice president and general manager of REV Bus Imlay City. “Our integration with Motiv Power Systems helps meet this demand with the proven EPIC chassis, approved by Ford through its rigorous QVM standards, to deliver the performance and reliability that our customers have come to expect from Champion.”

“With fixed routes and high fuel costs, we’ve long seen the shuttle bus market as an ideal use case for the EPIC Chassis,” said Kash Sethi, director of sales for Motiv Power Systems.  “Past deployments have borne this out and having Champion on board as an OEM marks the realization of this vision on a much larger scale”.