NEW YORK – Edward Taylor, owner of Down East Seafood in Hunts Point and operator of New York City's first all-electric, emissions-free medium-duty delivery truck, says his new vehicle emits no fumes, according to http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com.

"We're not making any pollution," Taylor said. "I mean, there are no fumes coming out of this truck."

Last Thursday, Taylor made his first deliveries on the truck, which was a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle that was retrofitted. It runs on sodium-nickel-chloride batteries and a 120-kW induction motor. After being charged for about eight hours, it can drive up to 150 miles at a top speed of 50 mph with a 12,339-lb. payload.

The truck will be on display Friday at the Alternative Vehicle Technology Conference at Lehman College in the Bronx. The annual conference, sponsored by the City University of New York's Center for Sustainable Energy, will showcase more than two dozen electric, compressed natural gas, and hybrid trucks, vans, and buses.

The truck costs about $216,000, though Taylor is paying only a fraction of that cost. With help from the Center for Sustainable Energy, Taylor received a $135,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. He also received a loan for about $34,000 from the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.

Smith Electric Vehicles, the England-based company that makes the truck, plans to have similar trucks available in America in early 2009.