Navistar International Corp. (NAV) announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement with a U.K. company to begin producing electric powered light trucks, Dow Jones reported.
Navistar and Modec limited will produce up to 400 of the trucks at a plant in Elkhart, Ind., next year, and expect to produce several thousand trucks annually within a few years.Production of the trucks as well as supply of parts is expected to produce some 700 new jobs.
The trucks are projected to have a range of up to 100 miles before needing to be recharged and will be targeted to areas where heavy stop and go driving is required.
Navistar says each electric truck could prevent as much as 20,000 pounds a year of carbon dioxide emissions from being released into the atmosphere, compared to a diesel or gasoline-powered truck performing the same duties.
After touring the plant in August, President Obama announced the joint venture would receive a $39.2 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department for the development and production of the trucks.
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