Australian EV Truck Manufacturer Doubles Assembly Capacity
Electric truck manufacturer SEA Electric has extended its commitment to the Australian market by doubling the size of its local assembly facility for zero-emission trucks in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong.
The company leads the world in terms of a comprehensive range of highly adaptable electric truck options, with its present plant expanding to now cover 8,000m2 on a total site of 15,000m2, giving SEA Electric the capacity to produce eight trucks per day, or up to 2,080 units per annum.
Founded in Australia in 2012, SEA Electric released its first electric commercial products in 2017, while last year it launched its new range of medium and heavy-duty electric cab chassis models, distributed and supported by an extensive dealership network.
“Australia doesn’t need to search the world to attract EV manufacturers – SEA Electric is proud to be a global leader in commercial eMobility technology, homegrown here in Victoria,” said Tony Fairweather, SEA Electric Founder and CEO.
“Since launching our new range last year, we have attracted incredible interest from a wide cross-section of leading companies and government bodies, who seek to improve their environmental sustainability, despite a lack of policy and incentives to fuel growth in the sector on these shores.
“The recent change of Federal Government and the subsequent increase in EV activity, has provided SEA Electric with renewed confidence that appropriate policy and incentives maybe close. There are many examples of successful policy in EV progressive countries such as the US that we should simply emulate.
“Despite Australian passenger car production wrapping up in 2017, we still have vibrant engineering, development, and manufacturing capabilities, of which we should be proud.”
SEA Electric’s existing facility has for the past 12 months enjoyed the benefits of a 100kW rooftop solar array, which has produced 129MWh of energy to date, with 86MWh being exported back to the power grid.
All told, the system has ensured that the site is approximately 60 per cent carbon positive, in other words, it produces 60 per cent more energy than it consumes.
As a cornerstone of the new energy ecosystem, in future, SEA Electric will utilise the batteries within vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functional trucks on-site, where the trucks could provide power grid stability by feeding energy back at times of peak demand or grid disruption.
The local range of SEA Electric badged trucks, the SEA 300 EV and the SEA 500 EV, are available in a range of models from 4.5t GVM vehicles capable of being driven on a car licence, through to 22.5t three-axle rigid trucks.
Final applications for the products include dry and refrigerated freight, side, front and rear refuse trucks, tilt trays, work trucks and elevated work platforms amongst others, with the company recently launching Australia’s first airport refuelling EV truck.
Supporting the vehicles is a comprehensive aftersales and warranty offering, including 24/7 phone and roadside support, plus a nationwide network of dedicated service partners.
For further details on the entire SEA Electric range of Australian-made vehicles, visit SEA Electric Australia.
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About SEA Electric
SEA Electric is an Australian company with a global reach specialising in the assembly and 100% electrification of commercial vehicles worldwide. Dealing directly with vehicle users and working alongside automotive OEM’s, SEA Electric supplies and licences patented technology.
SEA Electric was founded in 2012. After four years of product development and testing, SEA Electric launched its commercial operations in early 2017, triggered by the reduction in battery kWh pricing, allowing for commercial feasibility in offering electric drivetrains to the global market.
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4 comments
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John Hermann -
leefe -
Andrew J. Smith -
wam
Return to home pageI find it interesting that the leaders (and former leaders) of the LNP are so misinformed and ignorant of modern technology (including battery technology) that they think nobody makes all-electric vehicles, including utes, trucks, buses and cargo ships.
Wonder if they’ll bring in a light truck version. A home grown EV alternative to the standard work ute would be great.
Interesting how the CEO complains of politicians’ low levels of technology awareness, although innovative technology and manufacturing actually exist in Australia.
More broadly through our media narratives, we seem obsessed, still, about sepia tinted imagery, having subsidiaries of auto multinationals, subsidised and setting up assembly lines for low skilled work.
Goes to show how there should be more focus and promotion of SMEs small medium enterprises which are the main driver of the German innovation and the economy, while we have our own high tech companies e.g. CSL, Cochlear etc.; then again who needs science when it encourages creativity, innovation and change?
This modern technology is marginally more advanced than the 100km range delivery truck in japan in 1947.