Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) has celebrated the start of production of what it claims is the world's first all electric light duty truck, the Fuso eCanter.
Fuso, once part of the giant Japanese Mitsubishi group is today a Daimler Trucks Asia brand and Canters for Europe and the US are produced in Tramagal, Portugal.
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President and CEO Marc Llistosella said: "[We have] become the first global manufacturer to [series] produce an all electric truck. From now on we can address the growing demand for locally emission free delivery trucks in mega-cities. We already received the first customer orders."
The company will hold the global launch in New York next September.
Last May, MFTBC announced its first commercial customer in Japan: Seven-Eleven will be operating 25 eCanters this year.
Production started at the Kawasaki plant in Japan on 7 July.
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By GlobalData"The experiences from this small series in customer hands will also help Fuso for the large scale production in the coming year," the truck maker said.
The eCanter is produced with the conventional light-duty truck at Tramagal plant. The first units will be delivered in Europe and the US within a month.
The Tramagal plant, around 150km north-east of Lisbon, was founded in 1964 as a joint venture between Portugal's Duarte Ferreira and the former French truck manufacturer Berliet. In 1980, the plant began CKD (completely knocked down) kit assembly for Mitsubishi Fuso and since built the Canter and other Fuso vehicles for Portugal. Ten years later, the plant was purchased by Mitsubishi Motors Portugal. In 1996, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation took over the plant as the central production location for the Canter for western Europe. The plant became part of Daimler in 2003 after the automaker acquired the majority share of Mitsubishi Fuso.
The plant covers 160,000 square metres where 400 employees produce trucks for 30 European countries, Israel, Morocco and Turkey. Almost 95% of the vehicles are exported. Since 2012, the plant has also built the Canter Eco Hybrid.
