All-aluminum bodies will be built and available as an upfit solution for all-electric utility vehicles at DuraMag’s Waterville, Maine, facility, as Shyft expands into electric vehicle upfit

March 23, 2021

DuraMag, an all-aluminum truck body manufacturer, will build food and parcel delivery vans, as well as landscape, dump, and flatbed utility bodies for the FireFly electric vehicles at the Company’s facility in Waterville, Maine.

“At Shyft, we are committed to the future of transportation and to growing our capabilities in response to market demands,” said Daryl Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Shyft Group. “End markets are starting to prioritize and even insist on electric vehicles. We continue to focus on those trends and expand our offerings within EV manufacturing and assembly to help ensure we meet broad customer demand.”

The FireFly ESV is a zero-emission lightweight utility vehicle specifically designed to meet the needs of the essential services transportation and urban e-mobility markets. End user applications include parking management, security and perimeter patrol property management, first response services, sanitation, and last mile on-demand urban delivery of parcels and food.

“The all-electric 2021 FireFly ESV is our most advanced model yet and was designed to fill the need in the rapidly expanding urban, essential services and e-mobility markets,” said David Solomont, Chairman and CEO of evTS. “We needed the help of a body builder with application-specific experience, familiar enough with EV technologies and weight distribution requirements, that could also guarantee us fast speed to market alongside a high-quality, durable build. DuraMag has delivered that and more.”

F3 Manufacturing launched in 2016. In 2019, before its acquisition, it had sales of $25 million and ranked as Maine’s third-fastest-growing private business on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list. The Shyft Group purchased F3 MFG Inc. in October 2020, which included the DuraMag and Magnum brands in its portfolio. The acquisition expanded the Company’s service body capabilities into the aluminum market and provided customers with increased options in the expanding work truck market.

DuraMag has a 140,000-square-foot production facility on Trafton Road, employing over 200 people. In January 2021, the company announced it was looking to hire another 50 workers.

Steve Guillaume, President of Shyft Specialty Vehicles, further commented, “The Shyft Group’s quality system, ingrained lean manufacturing processes, and flexible manufacturing facilities across our expanding footprint provide customers with efficient, high-quality service body designs that can easily scale, no matter the order size. For DuraMag customers like evTS, this unique combination of experience and proficiencies helps ensure the fastest speed to market for some of the most lightweight and long-lasting aluminum bodies in the industry.”

For more information about The Shyft Group, visit www.TheShyftGroup.com, and visit www.DuraMagBodies.com for more information about DuraMag. Visit www.Magnumtruckracks.com for more information about concurrent product manufacturing at The Shyft Group’s Waterville operations.