Listen to this articleThe newly launched California Mobility Center (CMC) welcomes another commercial client to their growing ecosystem. Minnesota-based Zeus Electric Chassis Inc. (Zeus) specializes in designing and manufacturing Class 3-8 severe-duty electric vocational work trucks. Zeus has mature designs for applications such as service, dump, box delivery, and flatbed trucks with several other platforms in process. Zeus is the only ground-up electric cab-chassis manufacturer in North America in its class for the upfit and body OEM Industry.
Commercialization and fleet adoption programs in 2021 are essential first steps for Zeus and California to meet near-term Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandates, replacing diesel equivalents. The CMC has accelerated these steps for Zeus by facilitating a partnership with SMUD, one of the CMC’s founding members, by leveraging the CMC’s collaborative business model to approve procurement of five, ZEV work trucks from Zeus in 2021.
“We’re excited to introduce Zeus to Sacramento and demonstrate how large fleets can successfully transition to electric vehicles,” said SMUD CEO and General Manager, Paul Lau. “As we transition to a zero-carbon economy, innovators like Zeus will be the key to helping us turn Sacramento into a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous region.”
With operations centered in Minnesota, Zeus’ decision to join the California-based CMC illustrates the value the Center has in creating lucrative connections across the nation that otherwise would have been difficult to achieve.
“Zeus has already seen major benefits of being part of such a unique organization that brings companies like ours together with industry leading members,” said Wayne Kugel, CEO of Zeus Chassis, Inc. “Being part of the CMC opens up the fast lane to meeting our broader business objectives.”
Zeus is the third commercial client to join the CMC, which officially launched full commercial operations on March 11, 2021. Zeus joins AMPLY Power and DANNAR as the three clean mobility equipment and service providers that are among the CMC’s ecosystem. SMUD’s initial procurement is the first of many fleet adoption programs expected to be strategically facilitated through the CMC for Zeus.
“Without the CMC, early-stage companies would be left to figure out how to gain entry to the marketplace on their own,” said CMC Chief Operating Officer Mark Rawson. “We make all those connections for them as a single point of entry to California and help them navigate a highly complex market and regulatory landscape.”
The CMC was founded to serve as an innovation hub of policy, funding, and commercialization of clean transportation technologies including autonomous transportation, electric vehicles, battery storage, shared mobility solutions, public transit, and more.
“The partnership between SMUD and Zeus epitomizes the CMC’s unique ability to broker meaningful interactions for companies on both sides of the spectrum and is a perfect example of the CMC delivering on exactly what it designed to achieve,” said Rawson. “We are delighted to welcome Zeus to the CMC.”
