Azure Dynamics Corporation was incorporated under the laws of Alberta, Canada, having been spun out of BC Research Inc. Azure was headquartered in Oak Park, Michigan, a suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. The company's principal business was in the development and integration of its proprietary electric and hybrid electric drive technology, primarily for the light and heavy duty commercial vehicle categories. Azure filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012.

Corporate history

Solectria Corporation was one of the pioneering American companies developing commercial electric vehicles since its founding in 1989, based in Woburn, Massachusetts. On December 17, 2004, it was announced that Solectria and Azure Dynamics were merging. Azure Dynamics Corporation acquired all assets of Solectria in 2005. Solectria is credited for the original development of the ForceDrive Electric drive train, the Solectria Force, the Solectria E10, and the Solectria Sunrise. The Solectria Sunrise set an all-electric vehicle record by traveling 375 miles on a single charge during the 1996 NESEA American Tour de Sol. Due to financial difficulties, Azure filed for bankruptcy protection in the Supreme Court of British Columbia 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.

Products

Transit Connect Electric

The Transit Connect Electric is an all-electric van developed as a collaboration between Azure Dynamics and

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

, 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 at a

facility in Kocaeli, Turkey and then shipped to Azure Dynamics U.S. upfitter, AM General in Livonia, Michigan, where the Force Drive electric drive train and other components are added to the vehicle. Azure Dynamics has partnered with Johnson Controls-Saft to produce the

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energ ...

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 of up to , but the official US Environmental Protection Agency 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/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.
$2.5 million winner in the Alternative Side by Side Class category

References

{{Azure Dynamics Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States Companies based in Oakland County, Michigan Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2012 Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada