A drawback that always leads to the low esteem of zero-emission vehicles has been their mileage. Vehicle makers, big and small all over the world have been cracking their heads to get rid of this blot. The not so popular Balqon Corporation was also on the same job, but limiting its research to heavy-duty vehicles. The company specializing in Class 7 and Class 8 heavy-duty commercial applications has decided to turn its Class 8 yard tractors and drayage vehicles into EVs fuelled by lithium.

After receiving $400,000 worth funds from Port of Los Angeles, Balqon equipped one of its Nautilus E30 with a lithium ion battery pack capable of quick charging and ran tests on it. The results were indubitably amazing. The vehicle could unstoppably travel 150 miles on a single charge without carrying an additional weight. The company plans to establish a similar system in vehicles ranging from refuse haulers, to construction vehicles, to refueling trucks, which would be hitting the roads soon.

However, Balqon’s quest for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles might not end here because these eye-opening tests would surely create new hopes and scopes for improvement in mileage of smaller zero-emission vehicles.

Via AllCarsElectric