New Zealand’s Foodstuffs North Island Limited has given its latest electric truck an electrifying new identity, courtesy of a second-grade student at a local primary school.
The Chinese-built DeepWay Star began delivering chilled and frozen food to New Zealand’s lower North Island earlier this year and, after a naming contest organized with students from Russell Street School in Palmerston North, the big HD electric vehicle has a new name: Evie.
The winning name came from Year 2 (read: second grade) student named Madison, who beat out suggestions that included Buzzy Bee, Lightning and Bolt. Madison was able to officially reveal the truck’s new name alongside her classmates, local officials, and Foodstuffs representatives.
“Our trucks are on the road every day delivering food to stores and communities, so we thought it would be great to get kids involved and give our first electric truck a little personality,” explains Yang Zhang, general manager of supply chain at Foodstuffs North Island. “There were some brilliant ideas, but Evie was a pretty appropriate name for an electric vehicle. The best part is knowing that Madison and the other students will be able to spot Evie on the road and know that they played a role in it.”
Thinking about the future
Madison was allowed to do the opening honours, revealing Evie’s new name alongside her other classmates, Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith, local MP Tangi Utikeri and local shopkeepers PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square who will be receiving deliveries from Evie.
In its first months on the road, Evie traveled nearly 45,000 kilometers (~28,000 miles) and avoided more than 81,000 kg of harmful carbon emissions, which the company says is roughly equivalent to taking 35 ICE cars off the road for a full year.
As for the truck itself, it has a Tesla-esque, anteater-like appearance and a significantly longer range than the StarWay, offering over 500 km (~310 miles) of range from its CATL-built 600 kWh LFP battery packs that can be plugged into the charging ports two at a time for ultra-fast charging in about 30 minutes. If the wait is too long, the Star can swap out its dead batteries for new ones at special battery swing stations in just six minutes.
The DeepWay’s electric motors produce 491 kW (~660 hp) of power and a positively tectonic 75,000 (!) Nm (~55,000 lb-ft) (!!) of torque, more than enough to reach the 50 tons (100,000 lb) GVWR it’s rated for.
You can check out the images above and then tell us what you think of the big Chinese BEV and its fun new name in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Food products.
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