Azure Dynamics Corporation is incorporated under the laws of Alberta, Canada having been spun out of

BC Research Inc BC Research Inc. is a privately owned Canadian process technology incubator, specializing in custom research, process development and technology commercialization. Headquartered in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, BC Research operates prima ...

. Azure now is headquartered in

Oak Park, Michigan Oak Park is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population of Oak Park was 29,560. As a northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Oak Park shares its southern border with the city of Detroit. History This ...

, a suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. The company's principal business is in the development and integration of its proprietary electric and hybrid electric drive technology, primarily for the light and heavy duty commercial vehicle categories. Due to financial difficulties, Azure filed for bankruptcy protection in the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motow ...

in March 2012, and production of the Transit Connect Electric van and Balance hybrid was stopped. As of December 2012, operating status of this company is now closed.

Transit Connect Electric

The Transit Connect Electric is an all-electric

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

developed as a collaboration between Azure Dynamics and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, but Azure is the official manufacturer of record. Production began in December 2010, and will reach full capacity in April 2011 to produce between 600 and 700 units a year. Transit Connect EV EDTA DC 04 2011 1806

The Transit Connect Electric is produced using a

vehicle glider In the United States, with regard to automobiles, a glider is a vehicle without a powertrain (especially without an engine). Gliders are generally sold as unused car bodies, but a second-hand car may also be stripped of its powertrain and sold a ...

at a

facility in Kocaeli, Turkey and then shipped to Azure Dynamics U.S. upfitter,

AM General AM General is an American heavy vehicle and contract automotive manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer and the military Humvee that are assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana. For a relatively brief period, ...

Livonia, Michigan Livonia is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 95,535 at the 2020 census, which ranked it as Michigan's ninth most-populated municipality. Livonia is a part of Metro Detroit and is located about west of th ...

, where the Force Drive electric drive train and other components are added to the vehicle. Azure Dynamics has partnered with

Johnson Controls Johnson Controls International is an American Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,00 ...

-Saft to produce the

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...

pack used in the Transit Connect Electric. The vehicle is badged with both the Ford Blue Oval and Azure's Force Drive logos, with Azure Dynamics being the manufacturer of record. According to Ford and Azure, the Transit Connect Electric has an

all-electric range All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of an all-electric vehicle, it means the maximum range per recharge. For a ...

of up to , but the official

US Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

range is . The electric van has a speed up to . The rated the combined city/highway fuel economy at 62 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent () based on the five-cycle tests using varying driving conditions and climate controls, with the same 62 mpg-e rating for both city and highway. The energy consumption for combined city/highway was rated at 54

kW·h A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...

/100 mi.

Balance Hybrid Electric

The Azure Dynamics Balance Hybrid Electric vehicle is built on the Ford E-450 commercial stripped or cutaway chassis. The vehicle is modified with the Azure Force Drive Electric drivetrain technology, along with the Johnson Controls-Saft Lithium-Ion battery, by Utilimaster and then sent to one of Azure's bus body manufactures such as Collins Bus, Champion Bus, ElDorado National, Goshen Coach, StarTrans and TurtleTop where it is built as a shuttle bus, Class A school bus, delivery truck, etc. Azure Dynamics owns approximately 60% market share of the medium duty commercial hybrid truck market

Force Drive Electric

The Force Drive Electric is a proprietary electric drive train component developed by Azure Dynamics. This drive system is based upon the product originally developed by Solectria Corporation, which was acquired by Azure Dynamics in 2005. The Force Drive drive train is integrated into the Ford Transit Connect Electric, Ford E-Series Balance Hybrid, as well has a number of other passenger and medium and heavy duty trucks. The Force Drive was used in the Wave II electric vehicle developed by Li-Ion Motors, the $2.5 million prize winner in the "Alternative Side by Side Class" category of the 2010 Progressive X-Prize competition.

Solectria Corporation

Solectria Corporation was an American corporation based in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of government, in which an elected mayor is ...

. On December 17, 2004, it was announced that Solectria and Azure Dynamics were merging. Azure Dynamics Corporation acquired all assets of Solectria Corporation in 2005. Solectria is credited for the original development of the ForceDrive Electric drive train, the

Solectria Force The Solectria Force is a Geo Metro, professionally converted from a new, motorless chassis (known in the industry as a glider) by Solectria Corporation of Wilmington, Massachusetts, starting in 1991, becoming a battery electric vehicle. Solectria ...

, the Solectria E10, and the

Solectria Sunrise The Solectria Sunrise was an innovative electric passenger car, designed to be as efficient as possible to produce long range from available battery technology. Created by Solectria Corporation of Woburn, Massachusetts (since acquired by Azure ...

. The

set an all-electric vehicle record by traveling 375 miles on a single charge during the 1996 NESEA American Tour de Sol.
Solectria Sunrise Sets New EV Range Record - 375 Miles

References

{{Azure Dynamics Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States Companies based in Oakland County, Michigan