Workhorse releases specs for coming W-15 extended range electric pickup

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GRA

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Via GCC: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/04/20170414-w15.html

. . . A drivable prototype of the W-15 will be unveiled at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, California, on May 2. Production models are scheduled for delivery in 2018.

Designed specifically to meet the needs of commercial fleets, the W-15 is believed to be the first plug-in, range-extended pickup truck built from the ground up by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Preliminary specifications announced today include:

  • 75 MPGe fuel efficiency in all-electric operation
    80-mile all-electric range
    gasoline-powered range extender
    460 system horsepower (343 kW)
    0-60 miles per hour in 5.5 seconds
    True all-wheel drive (AWD)
    Automatic braking
    Lane-departure warning
    Composite body with carbon fiber
    Double cab
    Standard bed configuration
    7.2 kW power export that allows tools to be plugged directly into the battery power source without the truck running
We'll see if it appears.
 
Looks like they did a really nice job on this, hopefully they can get it into production.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/workhorse-w15-4wd-plug-electric-work-truck-prototype-first-drive-review/

$52k before tax credits, $13k less than VIA.
 
Looks interesting, but I am concerned about the small battery cells being air cooled. Also, more ground clearance would help off-road capability. I think lack of ground clearance was one issue that contributed to lack of sales of the GM hybrid pickups and SUVs.
 
Kind of agree about the air cooling thing :( but maybe I've been driving cars too long, where I'd feel lucky to get 6" ground clearance for snow but when I read 1' for the W-15 I thought, wow! no more dragging in the snow before the plows come out :lol:
 
jjeff said:
Kind of agree about the air cooling thing :( but maybe I've been driving cars too long, where I'd feel lucky to get 6" ground clearance for snow but when I read 1' for the W-15 I thought, wow! no more dragging in the snow before the plows come out :lol:
I don't live in the snow belt, only drive up to it to recreate, and as I no longer go regardless of conditions I rarely have to drive on unplowed roads anymore, so the 7.5" clearance of my Forester is wasted on me. OTOH, I do recall one trip in my '88 Subaru 4WD Turbo Wagon, which IIRC only had 4.5" of clearance, where I forced my way a couple of hundred yards along an unplowed road before giving up and having to back all the way to where I'd started. That took quite a while.

Agree on the air-cooling, although as they're limiting the usable SoC to only 66% that should help.
 
Looks like 45mpge and 80 miles range on a 60kw battery :(

http://gm-volt.com/2017/05/08/workhorse-unveils-w-15-electric-work-truck-concept-act-expo/

Fail in my book
 
rmay635703 said:
Looks like 45mpge and 80 miles range on a 60kw battery :(

http://gm-volt.com/2017/05/08/workhorse-unveils-w-15-electric-work-truck-concept-act-expo/

Fail in my book
I agree, 80 miles doesn't seem so great but theres a reason 1/2 ton 400+hp pickup truck only gets 15-20mpg while econoboxes the size of the Leaf or to a larger degree Bolt would probably get 30-40+ MPG. Personally I like the idea that they didn't dumb down the vehicle for the sake of range. A vehicle of this size and wind resistance would be bound to have < 1/2 the ICE MPG and thats what the range/kwh battery reflects.
I would have hoped more for a 100+ mile range, maybe like the 30kwh Leaf but I wasn't expecting 150+ range for this vehicle, even with a 60kwh battery.
 
rmay635703 said:
Looks like 45mpge and 80 miles range on a 60kw battery :(

http://gm-volt.com/2017/05/08/workhorse-unveils-w-15-electric-work-truck-concept-act-expo/

Fail in my book
I'd call it a success, given that they are designing a work truck. Too much battery will eat up payload weight and space and add cost. Personally, I think they should have opted for half as much battery, but perhaps they sized it as much or more for powering auxiliary loads as they did for AER, given the option of hauling around a genset instead. I imagine they asked potential customers what was important to them before designing it.
 
IEVS:
Workhorse Hit By Financial Setbacks, Intends To Focus On EV Vans
https://insideevs.com/workhorse-financial-setbacks-ev-vans/

. . . According to the financial results, the company noted in 2018 sales of just $763,000 (including $21,000 in Q4), compared to $10.0 million in 2017. On the other hand, net loss was $36.5 million, compared with a net loss in 2017 of $41.2 million. In such situation, Workhorse had problems even to purchase parts for ordered vehicles.

Reportedly, Workhorse received orders for 1,100 NGEN-1000 electric vans and 6,000 pickups. The pickups will be delayed (although we can’t exclude cessation), while the Surefly design is to be sold for $40-60 million, as Workhorse intends to focus on electric vans and finally start series production and make money. . . .

The Workhorse W-15 pickup originally was scheduled for 2018, but now we doubt that it will ever hit the market as development would require serious capital.
To the implied question in my OP, "We'll see if it ever appears," the answer appears to be 'Nope'. Too bad, still seems like a good idea to me.
 
I have a reservation for the W-15 and have been following the financial problems Workhorse is currently experiencing. I think the main issue has been the fact that Workhorse has been betting the farm on winning the USPS $6.3 billion Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Program. NGDV was supposed to be awarded early last year, but has been dragging out a lot longer than expected. The W-15 is based on the Workhorse NGDV powertrain, so without an award they don't have the funding to proceed, and it's gotten so bad that Workhorse is in desperate financial condition, taking loans to stay alive, even getting Duke Energy to purchase the batterys for the thousand of so W-15s they've ordered.

There's also upheaval in their management with the a number of changes in their upper management including the replacement of their CEO andvisionary Steve Burns. Their Surefly personal helo program is also up for sale. Surefly is a small octocopter with a serial hybrid powertrain that flies more like a drone. FInally, they've experienced battery issues with their electric van, not sure if the older UPS sized Evan or the newer Ngen , but to their credit they are spending $8 million of their dwindling cash to fix the problem.

I don't know if they will make it or not, but I'm hoping they can survive as I believe their trucks can be ground breaking products, as such I will not withdraw my reservation at this time. I may loose my thousand bucks, but I think it's worth the gamble.

BTW, 12 inches of ground clearance is way more than offered in most off road capable trucks today. My Z71 Silverado is only a bit over 9 inches. I think the Motor Trend article is wrong when they share the BMW three cylinder range extender will generate only 50 KW, that's about the same as the 3800 pound Chevy Volt, W-15 maxed out weighs in at 7200 pounds. Workhorse claims the generator will be able to maintain highway speeds at max weight in all highway conditions. For that their range extender will have to generate a lot more power, probably a level similar to the 100 kw generated in the VIA motors trucks.
 
GCR:
Electric pick-up from former GM plant to have in-wheel hub motors
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...former-gm-plant-will-have-in-wheel-hub-motors


. . . Our goal is to build the first electric pickup truck in the United States and likely the world,” said CEO Steve Burns, in a video (below) released last Wednesday.

If Lordstown wants to hold to Burns’ words and beat the first American-made electric pickup, it’s on a very tight timeline. The Rivian R1T is expected to have a production start in Illinois by the end of the year, while the electric pickups from GM and Ford, Bollinger, and even the Tesla Cybertruck, could all be arriving in the second half of 2021. . . .

Lordstown Motors is essentially the relaunch of the pickup project from Workhorse, a separate company that had back in 2017 reported $300 million in pre-orders for its W-15 electric truck.

Lordstown hasn’t yet revealed how much more of the Workhorse truck has translated to the Endurance, but we expect quite a bit has carried over. The W-15 was to be built on clean-slate body-on-frame layout, with 18650-format Panasonic cylindrical cells powering it—much like the Tesla Model S and Model X—packaged between the frame rails.

The W-15 was also to have a frunk for gear to be stowed away out of sight, and a power takeoff for power tools and the like.

The new company appears to have abandoned the plan to offer a range extender—the BMW 1.5-liter, used in the BMW i8 and now the Karma Revero GT. Another thing Lordstown might be more likely to change, now that the range extender is out of the picture, is add DC fast charging.

At the time the W-15 was taking form, the 60-kwh battery pack allowed about 80 miles of year-round range for the truck before the range extender needed to kick in. . . .

A number of suppliers like Elaphe, Protean, and Nidec, and have developed modern in-wheel motors that fit in about the space of an old-style drum brake. One issue, their “unsprung mass,” makes tuning the ride and handling of a vehicle more complicated, but it may be easier to accommodate in a truck like the Endurance.

Lordstown hasn’t revealed specs for the Endurance yet, but the W-15 has dual motors together making 460 horsepower, with a payload of 2,200 pounds and a tow rating of 5,000 pounds.

Like the W-15, the Endurance is first and foremost aimed at commercial users, with a core company mission to “to empower the working spirit.”
 
Oh, GEEZ. Unsprung weight is only one of the problems with in-hub motors. The pounding they will take, especially over rough pavement, is going to quickly reveal the slightest weakness in the construction. I fear that this is going to be the downfall of this truck. No, not the downside - the downfall.
 
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