Introducing the Latest Member of the Oso Family, the "Moon Unit" - Our New Electric Van ⚡
The time has come to retire our old trusty work van; “Big Bertha”, a 2006 Ford E 350 Super Duty, did her time serving as the company van but her time has come to an end. Out with the old, in with the new, as they say.
Now that the time for a new van was finally here, we had a few requirements and prerequisites we needed satisfied before we could decide on something new. First, the next van we purchased would have to be powerful. Not just any kind of powerful though, it would have to be strong and durable enough to handle the day to day operations including transporting concrete of all sizes - and lots of it!
Secondly, our new van would have to be extra roomy and spacious. We’re a team of over 10 guys who specialize in making large concrete countertops, art objects, architectural elements & more and we needed a vehicle that could fit all of these kinds of things. Finally, because we’re concerned with sustainability and excited about the future of technology, our last demand was that the van had to be a plug-in electric vehicle.
After a few months of research and comparing the available vehicles, we decided the Ford E-Transit was the exact vehicle the company was looking for. Not only was it sleek-looking and massive in size, with its electric battery pack, it also had some pick up, going 0-60 mile per hour in 6.4 seconds. The time had finally come to say bye to “Big Bertha” and hello to the “Moon Unit”.
After a few months of anxiously waiting, our E-Transit had finally arrived. From the moment we took delivery of this bad boy, we knew we had made the right choice. This van was everything we loved about our beloved “Big Bertha” but with a ton of modern touches and additions. From the massive amounts of cargo space to carry our custom pieces, to the Pro Power Onboard2 power outlet allowing for us to plug in for last-minute changes on job sites, we were so excited to get started using our new E-Transit.
As much as we loved our van the day it came, we wanted to give the van its own identity so people could know it was us inside when they saw us driving by. Our founder, Eric’s grandfather was a sign painter and we wanted to bring back some of this history for the “Moon Unit”. We also loved the idea of juxtaposing a vintage style, hand-painted truck lettering job with the all new technology of the Ford E-Transit.
Enter Andrew Hurley (@_andrewhurley on Instagram). He’s a Brooklyn-based artist & painter who has done hand-painted jobs for high-end clients such as Fendi, Bottega Veneta, Celine & more, just to name a few. After meeting with him and discussing what we were looking for, we immediately clicked on a design and got to work. Starting with some initial sketches, we then put brush to frame got started. After a few days of painting with an extremely high level of attention to detail, the van was finished. We can’t express how happy we are with the final result as it exceeded all of our wildest expectations.
