Phoenix Electric Sports Utility Truck

You can’t look at Phoenix Motorcars’ electric sport utility truck without think­ing it’s sort of cute. The lines are clean, it has four doors and five-passenger seat­ing, and of course there’s that handy inte­grated pickup bed. Plus – and here’s the clincher – it’s electric.

It’s a given that small inde­pendent manufacturers just don’t have the resources to manufacture high-quality, stamped steel vehicles on a sophisticated chassis. Yet, that’s just what we have here in the form of the Phoenix SUT. There’s a story behind this, as you might expect.

The Phoenix SUT begins life as a Ssangyong Actyon Sports SUT. Never heard of it? That’s no surprise. While Ssangyong is Korea’s fourth largest automaker, its products are not presently sold in this country. The fact that the Actyon is completely unknown in America makes for a pretty exciting EV intro­duction. It presents the look and feel of an all-new, designed-from-the-ground-up dedicated electric vehicle model since no conventionally-powered counterparts are ever seen on American highways.

Phoenix starts with a glider, which means the vehicle is complete but with­out a powertrain or fuel system...just perfect for small-market electric vehicles. This is the way some had always envi­sioned production electric vehicles would be made outside of the major automakers’ camps. In fact, Ford had fleeting plans for a similar program in the early 1990s with a Ford Ranger glider it was prepared to offer EV upfitters.

Motivation is supplied by a liquid-cooled, 100 kW PowerPhase 100 electric traction motor and controller by noted component developer UQM Technologies. Power comes from 900 pounds of Altair NanoSafe lithium titanate batteries. Vehicle integration and testing are by Boshart Engineering.

The powertrain is no slouch, producing over 400 ft-lbs of torque and accelerating this electrified SUT from 0-60 mph in under 10 seconds. It features an electronically governed top speed of 95 mph with a claimed driving range of 100 miles. An integrated on-board charger allows charging in about six hours from a 220-volt outlet. Charging in 10 minutes is said to be possible with a high-power commercial rapid charger, although these are quite costly and there is no network of readily-available rapid chargers around outside of an unrelated test program in Hawaii (see the feature “Quick Charge!” elsewhere on this site). Even with its hefty battery pack, the Phoenix SUT still offers a 1,000 pound pay­load capability.

Phoenix is initially selling to fleets because that’s where the math works out. Since it’s a certified EV, the State of California provides some pretty massive incentives...enough to make it possible to sell a vehicle with $75,000 worth of bat­teries for $45,000. Of course, there is an expectation that costs will come down as the project moves along and battery prices diminish.

What’s next for Phoenix? No less than focusing on the hottest topic in the advanced technology vehicle world today – the development of a plug-in hybrid. Working with UQM Technologies, the plan is to add a small internal combustion engine, liquid fuel tank, and presumable a smaller and less expensive battery pack to provide reasonable range on electric power only, with the ability to charge the batteries from a standard outlet. Gasoline-electric hybrid power will provide a driving range limited only by the amount of fuel in the tank.