A small team in the UK wants to do electric heavy trucks, can this be successful?

Emotive, an EV start-up based in Devon, UK, recently completed its crowdfunding goals and now plans to develop its heavy-duty EV 6×6 to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles in the UK's fire rescue, farm, forestry and adventure tourism markets, electrek reported.

EMotive has launched a £180,000 crowdfunding campaign to bring its prototype 6×6 commercial vehicle platform to the next phase of development, where different component groups will be designed to effectively compete with the diesel-powered Mercedes-Benz Unimog commercial vehicle, which is widely available in Europe and the UK.

"The UK government plans to phase out the sale of new diesel and petrol heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) by 2040," the EMotive website reads. "Our mission is to provide zero-emission solutions for industries that require specialized vehicles, such as construction, agriculture and mining."

The EMotive 6×6 concept car, called "Scarab", features a "state-of-the-art" powertrain that teleports modulated torque to the vehicle's six wheels through a unique "Intelligent Power Transmission System". There are also a lot of interesting driving techniques that have become a must in the electric truck market, such as crab walking, rear wheel steering, tank turning – but the need for these "tricks" is very urgent where Scarab may be used. It can be extremely adaptable to extreme environments.

Scarab uses a custom chassis architecture that can send pure electric power to drive two, four or all six wheels depending on the customer's needs. It's also designed to be modular and capable of powering electric motors in a variety of ways, including an EXTENDED RANGE ICE engine or hydrogen fuel cell (similar to Thor's motorhome, which debuted last week). EMotive reports that to date, the company has invested nearly £2 million in the development and prototyping of physical forms of vehicles, as well as the design of 'smart' powertrains.

EMotive may be a startup, but its team members include experience from Supacat, Flybe and McLaren. The company's engineers have also been involved in the development of Caterpillar, Lotus Motors and the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).

In an interview with The Devon Daily, EMotive founder Bruce Palmer said: "Our technology allows businesses to adopt cleaner ways of working and develop effective plans for customers' all-terrain mid-range SUV and adventure vehicles, while also reducing fuel costs by one-fifth." "Given that cars in our target market currently account for 20% of all vehicle emissions, it is only a matter of time before legislation restricting all-terrain vehicles and off-highway diesel locomotives (ICE) is in place, and this is where our opportunity lies."