Electricity is really juicing interest in the already hot pickup truck market. The next big thing to add to the segment’s momentum in the U.S. is a number of all-electric entries coming in 2021 and 2022.
They include offerings from incumbent OEMs like Ford, with its F-150 Electric, and General Motors, with entries like the GMC Hummer EV and a more conventional Chevrolet Silverado-type entry. However, the segment is really being dragged (kicking and screaming?) forward by new-OEM entrants from the likes of Tesla (Cybertruck), Rivian (R1T), Bollinger (B2), Nikola (Badger), Lordstown (Endurance), and Atlis (XT).
Atlis Motor Vehicles has been creating work-truck excitement from its base in Mesa, AZ. The company is spinning up its business and launching its pickup truck entry in 2021. While many truck details have yet to be revealed, company CEO & Founder, Mark Hanchett, gave Futurride an early glimpse at what’s to come before the next big truck reveal later this month. However, he has bigger plans.
“We aren’t just making trucks,” he said, in a recent company communication. “We are building a better world. Join us.” Check out https://www.atlismotorvehicles.com/careers if interested.
Most Atlis technologies are being designed, developed, and produced in-house in Mesa. To do this, the company continues to build out its team of engineering and operations experts.
“To disrupt the work-truck market, we need to deliver a product that’s better than the current standard,” said Hanchett. “Today, that’s gas- and diesel-powered pickup trucks. We are building out a team of high-horsepower engineers and leaders to do just that. That’s how we change the world: electric without compromise.”
Since its crowdfunding campaign earlier this year, the company has hired many new team members in electrical, mechanical, and software engineering, as well as program management. It has secured over $1.5 billion in reservations for the electric Atlis XT truck and XP platform. And it is piling up the patents for the protection of key intellectual property related to its offerings.
New high-profile hires announced in September will help lead the development of that proprietary battery technology, the XP platform, and the XT pickup truck. Chris Dawson is head of the XP platform, Robert Mandrov is VP of Operations, and two other key technical hires are Anirudh Bhokarikar as battery-cell engineer and Benoit Le Bourgeois as lead connectivity engineer.
Extensive research of customers—ranging from individuals and fleet owners who work in agriculture, service, utility, and construction industries—is driving the company’s electric work truck development. The XT will be assembled in the U.S. and start at $45,000. Production-prototypes are on track for completion in 2021.
Building a better work truck
To meet the size, refueling, towing, and payload capabilities of legacy diesel-powered vehicles, Atlis is developing the XP platform or “skateboard” as the base for not only the XT pickup but also other medium- to heavy-duty electric applications. The company’s proprietary battery technology, electric motors, and a modular system architecture will create a high capacity, high output, fast-charging work truck.
“Traditional automakers are dependent on their suppliers, sourcing much of the same off-the-shelf-technology as their competitors,” said Hanchett. “We are taking a vertically integrated approach, developing all technology in-house to create a vehicle that meets specific customer needs. We innovate with purpose and our strong IP portfolio is a huge differentiator.”
XT owners will be able to choose from a 300-, 400-, or 500-mi (480-, 645-, and 805-km) range provided by battery packs that range from 125 to 250 kW·h capacity, which will fully charge in just 15 min. Top speed is 120 mph (193 km/h) and 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) in 5 s. ATLIS aims for the XT to offer best-in-class towing of 17,000 lb (7710 kg) with a hitch and a max tow rating of 35,000 lb (15,875 kg) with a fifth wheel and gooseneck.
The ultimate 500-mi range is impressive, but towing is a big focus for some potential owners. As with diesel power, load has its effects on range.
At the top towing capacity, “we’re talking somewhere in the 125- to 150-mi [total] range, but 35,000 pounds is a really heavy load,” said Hanchett. “That’s a backhoe trailer, a very significant load for very specific industry.”
The range is much better for a more typical end-consumer application such as “a typical RV ‘toy hauler,’” he added. In the 20,000-lb tow range, Atlis is “targeting performance that still gets you in the 250- to 300-mi range.”
The company is also targeting how to be the “most efficient, towing a heavy load, at 55 or 65 mph, down the freeway.” Focusing on ultimate performance under heavy load is another way it intends to differentiate the XT from the competitions’ offerings.
“We’re very work-focused,” said Hanchett. “Our target market is F250/F350/F450 buyers.”
Atlis is targeting the Class 2 to 4 segments, for which people use vehicles for work, for towing hauling. “We’re really trying to target individuals that use a vehicle every day to get a job done.”
He compared and contrasted with his perspective on the competition: “Rivian is adventure. Tesla is lifestyle. The Ford F-150, to our knowledge with what’s public, is a combination of fleet and personal commuter in an urban environment. Lordstown is an urban environment vehicle—just based on capability). Bollinger, that’s a high price, sort of niche market opportunity there.”
“We’re very much targeting the people that typically end up with dents in their truck,” he concluded.
Core battery tech developed in-house
Plans call for the $45,000 price point for the entry-level XT once it reaches volume manufacturing. The biggest challenge in hitting that price goal is battery tech, said Hanchett, “which is one of the reasons why we’re developing and building it in house.”
For the company’s pilot production line, which is going live in early 2021, “we’re looking to control some of those large cost items in-house, batteries being one of those.”
The holy grail for the EV industry is getting below the $100/kW·h barrier for battery costs.
“We have what I think are realistic targets,” said Hanchett. “We’re looking at starting around [the] mid hundred ($150 roughly) range to start. And then, as we look to scale, we’re looking at bringing that down to closer to that $100/kW·h to meet our price targets.”
Those batteries will not be solid-state, at least initially, because that technology “still faces a lot of challenges in terms of solving problems like dendrite growth,” he said. For the XT, the company will use an NMC-based solution, “but our chemistry engineers are looking at alternatives.”
In February, the company held its first Battery Day to showcase early prototypes of its proprietary ultra-fast charging technology and the XP platform.
“Current electric vehicles simply don’t have what it takes to compete in the work-truck market,” Hanchett said at the time. “Truck owners need a battery that is high capacity, high output, and it needs to charge fast. So, we’re creating the Atlis battery cell and pack—a complete re-think on cell technology and approaches to improving battery performance—that charges in just 15 min.”
The company says that existing battery-cell designs are standardized for consumer electronics in a configuration that is not ideal for an automotive application. Its engineers are developing battery technology that better meets automotive industry needs. They targeted reduced component count to minimize assembly cost and complexity, a compact modular design, and a thermally efficient system with minimal losses. The scalable solution will start at 125 kW·h.
The cell technology is said to result in a low-profile design for easy integration into pack assemblies and ultra-fast charging capabilities. In combination with an advanced charging station and a Powerbank ecosystem, Atlis says its vehicles will be capable of a 15-min full charging out of the block and potentially 5-minute charging in the future.
The company also promises hands-free payment and no membership card required for its charging stations. A one-time annual payment will give customers unlimited access to those stations. The XT will be backward compatible with the current CCS charging standard, allowing access to existing charging infrastructure.
For businesses, Atlis is developing an on-site energy storage powerpack configurable to site-specific needs with solar power connectivity options and grid connectivity for sale of excess energy back to the grid and an option to purchase power at commercial prices.
Focusing on service & maintenance
Atlis promises that the XT will be nearly 100% serviceable by the owner, even on the side of the road, reducing maintenance cost, downtime, and lowering the overall cost of ownership. Many customers, especially those that are more rural (think agriculture), maybe a fair distance away from a repair shop or technician that can come out to a vehicle in need of maintenance or repair. Downtime is a critical issue for them.
There is a particular focus on modularity and on drive systems that can be easily swapped or serviced—except for the battery pack itself. Hanchett says that a customer should be able to change a motor, a whole drive module, or a suspension system on the side of the road.
This strategy comes down to designing a vehicle in such a way that it’s intuitive to remove or replace something, said Hanchett. “To make that as simple as possible, make things easily accessible, make it modular to the point where [a customer] can undo, say, six bolts, remove something, and plug something back. That’s the start.”
“Right-to-repair is a very big topic these days, especially in the work community,” he added. “So being able to facilitate that is very important to us.”
In addition, company engineers are looking to provide YouTube videos and videos accessible through the Atlis app for a customer to repair a vehicle if a problem does occur. They are also looking at vehicle health diagnostics.
“Ideally, [with diagnostics] you don’t have to troubleshoot,” said Hanchett. “The vehicle knows what’s wrong and provides you with at least a direction to go as to how to fix it.”
For customers who’d rather have someone else do the maintenance and repair, Atlis will have a combination of mobile technicians and service centers.
“We’re thinking mobile at first, identifying partners that can facilitate the repairs,” he added. “I’d love to be able to scale the remote service capability, really push this idea of ‘you’re broken down on the side of the road, and in 20 minutes let’s get you up and running again.”
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