CityFreighter » CF1

It is expected that e-commerce will grow from $505 billion in the United States in 2018 to $735 billion in 2023. And this creates a huge need for environmentally friendly vehicles to deliver all these products to the customers.

In 2019, CityFreighter showed its first prototype — the CF1 electric truck. It is an ultra-low floor medium duty last mile delivery van with a keyless entry system and modern design. The CF1 is also equipped with a Tesla-style navigation screen. Load capacity of CityFreighter CF1 is 2.4 tonnes, GVW is 5 tonnes. Range is 100 miles (160 km).

“It isn’t simply enough to change the combustion engine and put in an electric motor,” said Michael Schoening, president of the clean tech startup CityFreighter. “Nobody is buying an electric truck because it’s electric. You have to show that you’re saving operations costs, so one of our main focuses is a very driver-, customer-oriented design.”

According to Schoening, people involved in delivery spend time loading and unloading goods using a special lift, which is only necessary because the floor of the truck is too high. Electro-pneumatic suspension allows CF1 to go down to the minimum level in automatic mode. The loading height in the lower position will be only 17 inches (430 mm), whereas at Mercedes-Benz Sprinter it will be 21 inches (530 mm).