Taylor partners with leader in commercial vehicle electrification

Louisville, Mississippi-based Taylor Machine Works Inc. introduced the battery-electric ZLC Series to load and unload shipping containers weighing up to 75,000 pounds in port environments in 2019. Now Taylor is venturing into a new relationship with Proterra Inc., Burlingame, California, a leader in commercial vehicle electrification technology, to power the next-generation Taylor ZLC Series electric container handler with 904 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy and the ZH Series electric forklift with 225 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy with Proterra’s industry-leading battery technology.

These all-electric container handlers and forklifts will support various heavy-duty applications, including container handling in port environments and other heavy-material handling industrial applications in warehouses, plants, work sites, mine sites, steel yards, lumber yards and more. Taylor says it expects to deliver the first Proterra-powered Taylor vehicle to customers in 2022. Taylor and Proterra also will be working together to help ports and other customers electrify their heavy-duty material handling machinery by delivering charging and infrastructure solutions.

According to Taylor Machine Works, Proterra battery technology leverages industry-leading energy density and a customizable design to fit within various Taylor industrial material handling and container handling products. Taylor says it believes this new relationship with Proterra will be the most important next step for the Taylor product line.

“We are excited to continue the high standards of manufacturing material handling equipment with the battery-electric Gen 2-ZLC Series container handlers powered by Proterra,” says Hal Nowell, director of sales for Taylor Machine Works.

Matt Hiller, the company’s director of engineering, adds, “Electrification of mobile material handling equipment is an exciting and challenging effort but is also developing very quickly. Taylor is readying our customers for the new choices they have in the ways energy is used in their businesses. Taylor has always provided our customers with stable and forward-thinking technology and this continues in the EV [electric vehicle] space with our strategic Proterra partnership. Proterra  offers the experience needed to stay ahead of the curve and add to the solid support which Taylor customers demand.”

Robert Taylor Sr., president and chief operating officer of The Taylor Group of Cos., says, “This new relationship with Proterra, who like Taylor is an American manufacture, is truly a milestone in Taylor manufacturing history. Our commitment to the electric market for material handling and container handling equipment will be a strategic engineering collaboration between Taylor and Proterra. We believe that Proterra’s vision for EV battery technology and their commitment to zero-emission standards align with the Taylor vision.”

“Electrifying heavy-duty equipment is a win-win for our ports and our communities,” says Gareth Joyce, president of Proterra Powered & Energy. “It means protecting  our health and the air we breathe at the same time we meet the needs of the world’s busiest ports and other industrial settings with new technologies.”

He adds, “We are excited to partner with a trusted, industry-leader like Taylor and deliver our proven EV technology to power the next generation of material handling machines.”