Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2021 - 14

Startup targets
MEDIUM-DUTY

EVs

The XP platform incorporates independent front and rear suspension
and interchangeable drive modules at each axle.

" We want to drive
electrification in the
niche markets. "
- Atlis Motors CEO and founder
Mark Hanchett

Meanwhile, the XP platform's drive units, comprised of Atlisdesigned driveline hardware and software, also are designed to be
interchangeable - and easily removed for repair. Hanchett declined to
give specifics about motor power or design, but with makers of yet-tobe-produced light-duty pickups espousing total outputs of 1,000
horsepower (746 kW) and more, it's safe to assume the medium-duty
Atlis XT will have the power and torque to fit the potential duty cycle.
" It all works within the Atlis ecosystem, " Hanchett forecasts.
" Whether that's the maintenance side, the charging ecosystem, the
manufacturing ecosystem, the service side, parts side. Imagine all of
that. Like you have a very niche vehicle application that you're trying
to develop for a specific customer or problem you're trying to solve,
imagine just being able to basically shop and plug these things in
and develop a vehicle - and it works within an ecosystem that's being developed around it. "
He said plans currently are for every truck to have four-wheel drive
(via a traction motor/single-speed gearbox at each axle), independent front and rear suspension and load-sensing regenerative braking. Starting price is projected to be $45,000. A dual-rear-wheel configuration also will be available. " I'd love to build a 6x6, " Hanchett
offered, " but that's just for fun. "
14 April 2021

But the 6x6 notion underscores his vision for modularity's advantages. " How do we spend a bunch of
money up front so we can build five or six different
vehicles for a fifth of the cost? "

Batteries and charging
Hanchett said that most batteries currently used in
production EVs were developed from consumer-electronics platforms. That obviously doesn't sync with
Hanchett's vision of purpose-engineered components
for nearly all aspects of the Atlis' XT platform.
Instead, announced in early February 2021, it had
signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with
South Korea's Media Tech Co. Ltd to be the sole supplier for the design, development, manufacturing, installation and calibration of the production machinery
for the electrode, assembly and formation lines for a
limited-run prototype cell-production line at Atlis'
headquarters in Mesa, Arizona.
Atlis at the same time also signed an MOU with
Malaysia-based Greatech to act as the company's
strategic partner for production of battery packs.
Greatech will supply all parts, equipment and
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING

ALL IMAGES: ATLIS MOTORS

Atlis' XP platform underpinning a service-body truck.

Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - April 2021