USA – When Motiv Power Systems of Foster City, California launched its latest-generation EV powertrain at the ACT Expo in 2023, it displayed a vehicle with a Ford F-450 cab and chassis. Similarly to the former erstwhile Lightning eMotors, Motiv found the Ford chassis-cab to be a versatile and reliable platform on which to build a range of different electric models, from shuttle buses and school buses to box trucks. However, only a couple of months after ACT Expo 2023, it announced a new cab, designed from the ground up to be a fully-fledged Motiv-branded product. Called ‘Argo’, it is a medium-duty chassis-cab with a lightweight composite structure and a wide range of visibility from the driver’s seat, and it was shown for the first time at the latest ACT Expo, held between 20-23 May at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Jim Castelaz, who founded the company back in 2009 and is now Chief Technology & Revenue Officer, described Motiv to T&BB as “Silicon Valley meets Motor City”. On the one hand, Foster City is adjacent to the Santa Clara Valley, and Motiv employs teams of electrical and software engineers there; Castelaz’s own background is in electrical engineering, and the company’s arrow motif – featured, for instance, on the front of the cab – is supposed to represent the electromotive force derived from the vehicle’s batteries (though it is also a symbol for progress). On the other hand, Motiv claims that its new cab is based on feedback it has received from drivers over the last fourteen years. Castelaz was keen to stress that the Argo is not an engineer’s futuristic dreamchild but rather the outcome of careful thought and consideration, based on years of real-world experience.