Electric Truck

a self-propelled, railless, wheeled cart powered by a storage battery. An electric truck may have a lifting or a nonlifting platform that is controlled by an operator sitting or standing on the truck. Load capacities range from 0.5 ton to more than 100 tons. With a chassis, a storage battery, power equipment, switchgear, and electric traction motors, a typical truck may travel at speeds of up to 20 km/hr.

Electric trucks are used in industrial and commercial enterprises and at transportation facilities such as railroad stations, marine and river terminals, and airports. The trucks commonly used in the USSR have load capacities of 1, 2, 5, and 10 tons. Adequate speed, good maneuverability, ease of handling, and the absence of harmful exhaust gases make the electric truck an efficient means of transporting cargo. With automatic control that may include a linkup with a computer, some trucks move without an operator along a predetermined route that coincides with an electric conductor embedded in the road surface or a bright stripe painted on the surface. In industry, the term “electric cart” is often used instead of the term “electric truck” (elektrokar).