US company Workhorse Group Inc. is developing a new electric truck with integrated drone capabilities that could be the first to deliver packages by air.
The so-called “E-Gen” vehicles, which are patent-pending and EPA-approved, are propelled by an electric motor consisting of 6,000 Panasonic lithium-ion cells. The drones that Workhorse calls “HorseFly” are partly integrated in the trucks and provide an eco-friendly and energy-efficient alternative to pure road deliveries.
“The HorseFly UAV is given a package and a delivery destination by a delivery driver, using a touchscreen interface in the delivery truck. It launches itself from the delivery vehicle and ascends to a safe cruising altitude, then navigates to the desired delivery point autonomously using GPS Navigation,” Workhorse explained.
When the HorseFly drone reaches the GPS delivery destination, a human pilot in a remote location monitors the descent with a multi-camera video feed and executes the package drop off. The HorseFly then ascends back to a safe cruising altitude. The drone, which can carry packages up to 5kg, navigates after the delivery to the new location of the delivery truck and uses Infrared (IR) Tracking to land and dock with the truck.
The HorseFly then recharges its battery using the onboard battery of the electric vehicle. If the battery state-of-charge falls below a predetermined level, a small internal combustion engine automatically turns on and powers the motor to recharge the battery to its required level so the driver doesn’t have to look for the nearest recharging station while making deliveries.
“Our goal isn’t to reinvent the wheel – it’s to power it differently,” Steve Burns, co-founder and CEO of Workhorse Group, said. “We are committed to finding the best solutions for both energy efficiency and emissions, and we believe our electric trucks can be part of the answer. If we can help delivery companies reduce their fuel costs while maintaining or improving their service, we’ve done our job.”
In September this year, UPS announced that it ordered 125 Workhorse E-Gen trucks as part of a broader programme to deploy electric-powered vehicles with greater range and performance. They lower operating and maintenance costs and dramatically increase fuel economy by up to four times compared to a gasoline-powered vehicle. UPS will be deploy the trucks in Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida in the first half of 2016.
“These vehicles are a bridge to the delivery trucks of tomorrow,” Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president global engineering and sustainability, had said earlier. “This investment will help create and grow the market for ground-breaking alternative propulsion systems that reduce environmental impact, reduce operating costs and save fuel.”
In October this year, UPS also announced the purchase of 18 electric, zero emission delivery vehicles from Workhorse to be deployed in the Houston-Galveston area in Texas as the result of a partnership with the US Department of Energy, local governments and non-profits. Moreover, Workhorse is one of 15 companies competing for the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle acquisition programme by USPS to replace its aging fleet of 180,000 mail trucks.
