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Tropos Motors Launches Line of Compact Electric Utility Vehicles

January 17, 2018, Vishnu Rajamanickam, staff writer

Tropos Motors has pivoted from its role as a distributor of the Cenntro METRO line of compact electric utility vehicles into a hybrid role of distributor and vehicle manufacturer. Bundling both under its new ABLE line of vehicles, Tropos Motors is bringing a slew of new purpose built vehicles to market that were designed for corporate, fleet, first-responder, agriculture, last-mile delivery, and construction applications.

The Tropos ABLE Fire Response Vehicle and ABLE Emergency Medical Services Vehicle are the first to launch in the new line and offer more compact form factors of traditional fire and emergency services vehicles to service providers around the world. As a low speed, street legal electric vehicle, the vehicles offer the reduced maintenance, higher reliability, and lower operating costs that electric vehicles have become synonymous with to fleet operators, while bringing with them improved mobility in dense urban environments.

“The demand we see from the first responder market is for smaller and more maneuverable vehicles to meet their operational requirements, as well as vehicles that are of automotive quality but can be used indoors,” said CEO, John Bautista. “The ABLE product line meets these needs as a dependable compact utility workhorse, that’s still street-legal.”

The Tropos ABLE Platform

The Tropos ABLE platform is unique as a compact vehicle, as it is not the result of repurposing an internal combustion vehicle platform, golf cart, or go-kart, but rather it was designed and built from the ground up as an electric vehicle. Its chassis was designed to maximize functionality and capability within the design constraints, with modularity in mind to enable flexible configurations such as the ABLE fire-response vehicle and the emergency medical services versions.

“The ABLE chassis is a workhorse,” shared Tropos Motors CEO, John Bautista. “With our Easy Swap System, a few tools, and a few minutes, the bed packages can be switched out to transform the vehicle from a campus tour hauler to a delivery vehicle or work truck with standard pick-up, box, and tradesman bed packages.”

Maximum Functionality, Minimum Footprint

The ABLE is a 10kW ultra-low maintenance zero-emission vehicle designed for maximum flexibility and functionality packed into a tiny form factor.  Its 149.5 in x 53.5 in x 78 in | 3800mm x 1350 mm x 2000 mm frame allows it to provide critical services in areas that were previously unreachable, while its estimated 144 MPGe and up to 4.3 M/KwH ensures maximum savings at the bottom line. The ABLE has a range of 40–160 miles, depending on configuration and speed, with a top speed of 25 mph or 35 mph as defined by local laws, or 40 mph off-road, based on customization.

As zero-emission vehicles, the new offerings are prime candidates for service providers looking to provide faster response times across large corporate campuses, inside large buildings, and in dense cities where a smaller vehicle will often be able to respond faster to service calls thanks to the ability to weave in and out of tighter gaps in traffic.

A medical emergency in a dense shopping mall might otherwise take tens of minutes for first responders to walk through just to get to the individual needing attention. With a compact electric utility vehicle, first responders could potentially drive directly to the individual, cutting tens of minutes or even hours off of their response time in situations where every minute counts.

Fully-Electric Fire-Response Vehicle

The Tropos Motors ABLE Fire-Response Vehicle was designed to be a key link in the chain for fire teams responding to fires in locations where full size vehicles might not have sufficient access to drive directly to the fire. It can transport up to 125 gallons of water and can connect directly to stand-pipes, enabling firefighting capability in locations where vehicles were previously unable to respond.

The FRV-optioned vehicle comes with a Hannay 4000 series reel with electric rewind and Scotty Around the Pump Class A foam system with a 5-gallon foam cell, which is the equivalent firefighting capacity of carrying nearly 1000 gallons of water.

“The compact size of the ABLE FRV (Fire-Response Vehicle) allows it to travel on stadium walkways and on the field, or along sidewalks within gated communities or campuses that standard trucks cannot reach,” said Scot Harden Sales and Marketing Director at Tropos Motors. “We also see uses on campgrounds where sprinkler systems and fire hydrants are not available, and standard equipment may take a long time to arrive on the scene.”

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