Greentech Media

“We’re excited to get that data back,” Abramson said. “We’ll tighten things here and there, then take receipt of the truck and go on a road show.”

Electrorides hopes to take the truck to potential customers and begin accepting orders in late August or early September, and to deliver its first trucks in the fall, said Abramson, who previously was the founder and owner of American Dream Transportation, which made specialty limousines and luxury buses for its own transportation service in Island Park, N.Y.

The company hasn’t yet settled on a price, but Abramson said that if it ends up around $135,000, customers would see a return on their investment in about six years.

“It’s about $500-per-month difference, so it will be affordable," he said, "and they will recoup their investment in six years -- and not pollute the air.”

Vallely said that payback period doesn’t factor in any renewable-energy credits customers might be able to receive by making the switch.

The company expects to produce 25 to 50 units in 2008 and 100 units or more in 2009, Abramson said.

It is establishing its supply chain now and is nearly finished putting its production partners for the California market in place, he said. It will need suppliers to produce battery brackets and trays, motor mounts, motor-to-transmission coupling and the parts for the vacuum assist, he said.

“We think we know who we’re going to deal with, but we want to get a few other bids to make sure,” Abramson said.

The company also plans to make some proprietary parts for its drive train – mostly software – that it plans to manufacture in-house, and Boshart is selecting a vendor to deliver it according to its specifications.

Once the kits are ready and orders are filled, vehicle owners won’t be expected to install the kits -- which will come in two or three crates -- themselves.

Electrorides plans to train dealers to perform the conversions during a weeklong program. Abramson said that once mechanics complete the training, it will take two people less than a week to convert the trucks after the engine is pulled out.

But will dealers want to make the time commitment, and won’t that labor increase the price of the conversions?

Abramson said dealerships are “very interested” in the kits because gasoline-vehicle sales are down and they are looking at a way to increase their sales.

“We can build a big manufacturing facility and carry those costs and deliver the vehicle to a dealership at a higher cost, or we could take the money we were going to spend and put it into dealer support, training and marketing,” he said. “We wanted to get the vehicles out to the marketplace sooner and have a lower-cost vehicle. Dealerships already have expressed that they like [our choice]. With the downturn in their sales, it keeps their people busy.”

The company is looking for solar companies to package with its ZeroTruck so customers can choose to charge the truck with all-renewable energy to make it as green as possible, Abramson said.

In the future, Electrorides also is looking to move into trucks with heavier vehicle weight ratings, so that customers can extend the range or haul more weight for the same number of miles, he said.