Electric food truck

Vintage Step Vans, Citroen HY’s and VW type T trucks are some of our most popular food trucks due to their irresistible classic charm. However, they were all built at least 30 years ago meaning they have the engine, mileage, and mechanics to show for it.

They also are usually all manual shift, but not just any manual shift. Typically it is a vintage European system you’ll have likely never seen before in the USA. This means that it takes a while to learn how to drive them, which is alright for an owner-operator but a bigger speed bump for entrepreneurs wanting staff to drive their truck.

Luckily reliable companies such as EV West offer an electric vehicle conversion kit that is usable on a range of models. For example, the same kit fits a VW bug, T-type, and Karmann Ghia. Using these kits and a new transmission we can transform the classics to be more modern and provide clean engines with an automatic shift.

Many EV manufacturers and larger automotive players have all their vehicle paperwork in order. This means you can buy a Club Car 411, Ford F150 Lightning, or the new electric Mercedes-Benz Sprinter without any second thought to their legality.

These are major brands and players which means everything they produce is up to standards. We can build those units out to electric food trucks without issue, same as we would the regular versions of these trucks.

Where it becomes a gray area is if you decide to import an electric vehicle or electrify an existing unit. In principle, anything coming from abroad into the USA that does not have prior approval will have to go through an approval process, even including units made in Canada.

Generally speaking the solutions are to have your electric unit classified, titled, and licensed as a self-built vehicle after using an EV conversion kit, to get it registered as a low-speed vehicle, or to see if it can be classified as a golf cart. If you have questions about a specific electric model let us know, and we can pull in expert NHTSA consultants to determine the best course for your build.

Having to power the equipment inside your beautiful, zero-emission green electric food truck using a regular diesel generator sort of defeats the purpose.

As such, we have partnered with Joule Case to electrically power food trucks. This modern battery system is clean, quiet, and completely scalable to meet your needs.

Even though Joule Case systems can scale, if you are planning a build with four full size, 40lbs deep fryers then you’ll have to combine the green Joule Case technology with more old-fashioned propane.

In our opinion the combination of a Joule Case and propane could quite likely be the most viable green solution for many operators.

An increasingly common question we get is if we can power a food truck or concession trailer using solar panels. The answer is yes, but it can be complicated.

Solar panels are mostly usable as an additional power source to save on fuel costs for the generator, or to charge electric trucks. It is not a full solution, as the square footage of the roof on your truck or trailer does not allow for enough panels with the current level of solar panel efficiency to fully power more energy intense food trucks.

Coupled with propane and a Joule Case, it can certainly be interesting to investigate the option as the solar panels will act as an extender for the Joule Case’ battery life.