In the announcement on Thursday, the two companies said the first 50 vans will have a range of 100 miles (160 kilometers) and will be delivered in 2018, reports Reuters.
Atlanta, Georgia-based UPS has approximately 35,000 diesel or gasoline-powered delivery trucks in service in urban and suburban areas throughout the country, with most of them comparable in size and capable of running the routes comparable to the range of the new trucks.
The shipping giant has not been sitting quietly on the sidelines when it comes to streamlining its delivery process or embracing clean energy and zero-emissions. The company already has added 300 electric delivery vans to its fleet across the U.S. and Europe and has an order for 125 Tesla Semis placed in December last year.
Getting in on the ground floor
UPS and Workhorse Group Inc will be working together to design and build zero-emission plug-in vehicles from scratch at a cost comparable to its conventionally fueled trucks. The new EV delivery vans will be tailored specifically for the company’s purposes.
“With our scale and real-world duty cycles, these new electric trucks will be a quantum leap forward for the purpose-built UPS delivery fleet,” said Carlton Rose, President, Global Fleet Maintenance and Engineering for UPS. “The all-electric trucks will deliver by day and recharge overnight.”
“We see this vehicle as being a game changer in the electric truck arena,” Rose, told Reuters. “It’s also an industry first because the acquisition cost is comparable to gas and diesel.”
The trucks will be tested in urban areas, including Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles with UPS planning on deploying a much larger fleet in 2019. According to Market Watch, the announcement sent Workhorse shares up 17 percent premarket on Thursday.
Vehicle manufacturers Daimler AG, and Navistar International Corp, as well as a number of new-comers, are in a heated race to figure out how to overcome the challenges of putting batteries in large delivery vehicles that normally use gasoline or diesel fuel as regulators crack down on carbon dioxide and soot pollution.
Last year, Daimler said UPS would be the first U.S. commercial customer to get delivery of its new battery-powered eCanter truck. Daimler also expects to be producing cheaper, longer-range trucks within the next two or three years. And U.S. truck leasing and rental company Ryder System Inc announced in November it will order 125 all-electric delivery vans from Chanje, whose main investor is FDG Electric Vehicles Ltd.
Loveland, Ohio-based Workhorse has already sold 300 electric delivery vans to UPS and is also testing package deliveries with drones for the company. Workhorse also has a number of future design concepts in the pipeline, including drones, a range-extended pickup truck, a flying taxi and a delivery van that launches drones from its roof.
