Tesla Motors battery pack goes to work… in a walk-in van

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Tesla Motors, USA, Daimler

Freightliner Custom Chassis walk-in van - Click above for high-res image gallery

That Daimler deal with Tesla Motors is defying early skepticism and starting to bear fruit in the shape of a boxy walk-in-van (WIV). The all-electric truck chassis we told you their subsidiary Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) was developing with Enova Systems just made its debut in pre-production form at the 2010 National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show with its energy storage system being supplied by a certain Californian company better known for its electric sportscars.

The MT-45 chassis uses a 120 kW motor fed by the Tesla Motors power pack which, with the aid of regenerative breaking, gives the WIV a 100-mile range (contrary to the 150-mile figure on the the vehicles signage). With claims of possible savings of $15,000 per truck in fuel costs, units will undergo testing by major American delivery companies after full production begins in the first quarter of 2011. Press release after the break.

Gallery: Freightliner Custom Chassis walk-in van