USA - Fontaine Modification Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, a division of Fontaine (a subsidiary of Marmon Holdings and Berkshire Hathaway), in March opened a facility in Detroit for converting Ford medium-duty truck chassis to electric vehicles in addition to working on conventionally powered trucks, according to Fontaine truck and EV president, Pat Griffin. Fontaine says it is taking the Ford F-59 and F-53 rolling chassis (ie a school bus chassis - the frame, wheels, and engine - built by nearby Detroit Chassis) and adds electric systems from Motiv Power Systems Inc of Foster, California. 

According to Matt O’Leary, Chairman and CEO of Motiv Power Systems Inc (O’Leary was formerly in charge of Ford’s truck, SUV and commercial vehicle business) Motiv installs the vehicles’ batteries, controls and motors in the chassis, adding about 100 such vehicles were now on the road. Motiv in March announced it was making progress towards opening a Detroit-area engineering centre. (Motiv in October raised USD60m in equity funding to support its overall growth including establishing a new engineering and manufacturing facility in Detroit, Michigan).