Company Background
Fisher Coachworks is rekindling 100-years of Body by Fisher vehicle manufacturing leadership. The company was formed in late 2008 to bring game-changing commercial vehicles to the global marketplace.
Fisher Coachworks is commercializing patented structural systems and manufacturing technology for ultra-lightweight series hybrid electric vehicles, especially applicable in the urban commercial vehicle market sector. By applying a total vehicle optimization engineering approach, and an ultra-lightweight stainless steel, unibody chassis/ body structure, the company is able to significantly reduce vehicle mass.
The result is step-change improvements in fuel economy, emissions and operating cost efficiency. Fisher’s launch product is the GTB-40, a Plug-in Hybrid Urban Mass Transit Bus, which began road testing in August 2008. Being nearly half the weight of current hybrids, and as a battery-electric model, the GTB-40 achieves significant energy efficiency while generating Zero Emissions. And as a range extended electric model, the GTB-40 gets at least twice the fuel economy and covers the same range as current electric hybrid buses. Currently based in Oak Park, Michigan, the company will soon relocate to a larger manufacturing facility to prepare for ramped vehicle production beginning in 2011.
DOE Success Story
The Department of Energy helped Fisher Coachworks commercialize the GTB-40 through an R&D investment in Autokinetics which designed and fabricated the first prototype. Both Oak Ridge National Labs and Argonne National Labs were involved in the 8-year R&D project.
The fisher brothers
Legacy Family Roots
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Meet the Founder
Greg Fisher
President & CEO.
First a thank you! On behalf of the Fisher Coachworks team, we appreciate your interest in Fisher Coachworks. We’re truly working on an exciting vehicle with leading edge technologies that will transform the transit industry, while benefitting our environment, our customers and the communities we serve.
Let me digress for just a minute to set the context for what this project means to me personally. As you may guess, cars were a regular dinner table discussion in my house growing up. They’re just part of my DNA. Another important principle in our house was the topic of “Form” vs. “Function, as you see my Dad is in manufacturing and my Mother was an artist. While the debates were always serious and fun-hearted, my take-away was that both Form and Function are equally important, both are required in proper balance to have a successful result or product.
When first I witnessed the concept vehicle, that what we now call the GTB-40, I had an almost immediate emotional attachment to it. In the GTB-40, I saw the manifestation of “Form” & “Function” perfectly balanced. The vehicle is modern, attractive and efficient. In fact I believe the GTB-40 to be the most disruptive product, not just vehicle, that I’ve seen in all my travels.
Truly disruptive products are few and far between, but the GTB-40 is one of them. The vehicle exemplifies one of our core values: “simple solutions to complex problems”. And we expect the GTB-40 will be a product that effectively challenges the competition.
At Fisher Coachworks, we have the right team, the right product, and the timing is right. The market is ready for the GTB-40 and the technology is ready. Stay tuned to our progress as our team works hard to get the GTB-40 into production in 2011.
Thanks again for your interest,
Greg Fisher
President & CEO
Fisher Coachworks, LLC
