EV maker ELMS is focusing on making affordable electric commercial vehicles
ELMS is now building and delivering pure electric vans, with a manufacturing facility at an old Hummer factory in Indiana that was converted to make electric vehicles. Taylor was a former General Motors executive: He was in charge of the Cadillac and Hummer brands.
Reliable & affordable
ELMS focuses on providing reliable, affordable commercial vehicles. The company’s Urban Delivery van is tailored for painters, couriers, and other businesses that need a long-lasting work vehicle, so don’t expect this delivery van to feature Nappa leather, adaptive suspension, or ventilated seats.
At 186 inches long, the Urban Delivery is about the same size as the Ford Transit Connect. It has a 120-inch wheelbase and weighs 3,133 pounds. Cargo space is 157 cubic feet, and its maximum payload is 2,100 pounds.
The car has a 41-kilowatt-hour battery pack supplied by CATL, and ELMS estimates it can provide 110 miles of range in EPA testing. An electric motor can output 60kW of power. Top speed is claimed to be 55 miles per hour, but it’s more than enough for inner-city delivery missions.
It is reported that the core part of Urban Delivery is the Wuling design from China. “ELMS did start with a body-in-white rolling chassis provided by Wuling, as it had proven reliable on the road,” Taylor emphasized, but ELMS overhauled them significantly, adding seats, sensors and safety gear, new bumpers and headlights, ELMS also installed its own electric powertrain.
But why start with WL Design?
Taylor explained that the company imported a batch of the most popular commercial vehicles sold in China and compared them. WL’s proven product comes out on top, which is why ELMS chose it as the basis for its first model. Of course, starting with an existing product rather than having to develop a vehicle from scratch can save a lot of time and cost.
The first batch of city delivery vans were handed over to customers in September, but they were not street code compliant.
Closed environments
It is reported that the Urban Delivery Campus Vehicle is intended for use in closed environments, such as university campuses.
Taylor explained that ELMS decided to launch a non-certified product first to address any production or supply issues. But in the meantime, engineers are developing a marketable van, one that meets all federal standards. Work on the model is complete, and vehicles should start shipping to customers by the end of the month, meaning people may soon start seeing Urban Delivery quietly popping up in the community.
In addition to this lightweight product, ELMS is developing an all-electric chassis model, which will also be an improved version of the Chinese vehicle. Dubbed the Urban Utility, the car is expected to go on sale shortly, possibly in the second half of 2022. The safety requirements of a large Class 3 truck like this are far less than those of a passenger car, so the company was able to bring the product to market earlier than others.
ELMS Urban Delivery starts at around $34,500, excluding any EV incentives. What makes things interesting is that the existing $7500 federal tax credit should bring the price down in line with its internal combustion engine counterpart.
They may be a better deal when you factor in generally lower electricity costs and significantly reduced maintenance bills for EVs. As for usability, “we’re just focusing on the commercial side,” Taylor said. ELMS products will be sold through three carefully selected distributors located in key US markets.
Taylor didn’t say exactly how many orders were ordered or which companies were interested in its products, but he seemed very optimistic about what his team was doing. Urban Delivery “will make us famous,” he said.
