Tropos Motors is expanding to Europe
July 15th, 2019
The Californian electric vehicle manufacturer Tropos Motors is expanding into Europe. Together with the automotive logistics company Mosolf, an agreement was concluded to establish the subsidiary Tropos Motors Europe in order to sell fully electric compact commercial vehicles in Europe.
A production facility is to be built near Dortmund, Germany, in order to manufacture “thousands” of vehicles for Europe and other global markets in the next five years. “We see increasing sales potential for all-electric compact utility vehicles in Europe,” said Jörg Mosolf, CEO of the Mosolf Group. “Governments, cities, and businesses across the continent are seeking sustainable zero-emissions transportation solutions.” In his estimate, Tropos’ vehicles can be used reliably in areas such as “corporate, fleet, first-responder, agriculture, last-mile delivery, and construction.”
The vehicles of the Able series are characterised by their easily exchangeable superstructures. Depending on the purpose, the chassis can be extended to a box or flatbed truck, a sweeper, an ambulance, as well as a number of other uses. This should make the eCUV (electric compact utility vehicle) particularly versatile.
The top version, the Able XR, which offers an extended range, is designed for speeds of 40 km/h and up to 260 km without a charging stop. Thanks to a 26 kWh rechargeable battery, the light-weight electric commercial vehicle should thus offer a range four times greater than the standard version and more than comparable e-commercial vehicles in this class. The maximum speed of the Able XR is 72 km/h, the maximum tractive effort is a good 900 kilos on public roads and around 1360 kilos on company premises.
Update 17.07.2019: Tropos Motors Europe will start production of its small electric trucks in the city of Herne in January 2020. Herne is located right in the middle of the Ruhr area, Germany’s industrial valley in the mid-West of the country.
Gregory Hancke, CEO of the Mosolf Group, said: “A huge advantage of this region is that we can easily find extremely qualified, highly motivated employees who have excellent experience because the automotive industry already existed here. There are several universities in the immediate vicinity where engineers are trained and we can hire them. In addition, the Ruhr region is one of the largest markets in Germany”.
Between 1,500 and 2,800 units are to be produced there next year, after which up to 3,000 units should follow over the next few years.
