UPS taps Workhorse for electric trucks

The Atlanta-based parcel carrier will be the first in the industry to deploy electric-powered delivery trucks that will be comparable in cost to trucks that run on conventional fuel, according to a statement from UPS.    UPS Inc. has placed an order with transport technology and equipment maker Workhorse Group Inc. for 50 plug-in electric delivery trucks.
   The Atlanta-based parcel carrier will be the first in the industry to deploy electric-powered delivery trucks that will be comparable in cost to trucks that run on conventional fuel without subsidies, according to a statement from UPS.
   UPS said it is collaborating with Workhorse to design the zero-emissions vehicles “from the ground up.”
   According to Workhorse, the class 5 trucks will be nearly 400 percent more fuel efficient than their traditional predecessors, as well as provide “optimum energy efficiency, vehicle performance and a better driver experience.”
   Each truck will have a range of approximately 100 miles between charges, featuring a cab forward design that “optimizes the driver compartment and cargo area, increasing efficiency and reducing vehicle weight,” said UPS.
   UPS plans to test the new vehicles primarily on urban routes across the United States, including in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. Following these real-world test deployments, UPS and Workhorse will “fine-tune” the design with the goal of deploying a larger fleet by 2019.
   Since most of the maintenance costs of the delivery trucks will be associated with the electric-powered engine and related components, UPS said it anticipates the operating cost of the vehicles to be lower than a similarly equipped diesel or gasoline vehicle.
   Ultimately, the company, which currently deploys about 35,000 comparable diesel or gasoline trucks, said it aims to “make the new electric vehicles a standard selection, where appropriate, in its fleet of the future.”
   UPS already operates more than 9,000 alternative fuel vehicles, one of the largest such fleets in the U.S., including all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, ethanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) and propane-powered vehicles. The company recently ordered 125 of Tesla’s new fully-electric semi tractors, the largest pre-order to date, and last September, UPS announced it will become the first commercial customer in the U.S. to start using the eCanter medium-duty electric trucks from Daimler Trucks’ Fuso brand.
   The company has previously said it aims to have one in every four new vehicles purchased by 2020 be an alternative fuel or advanced technology vehicle.
   “Electric vehicle technology is rapidly improving with battery, charging and smart grid advances that allow us to specify our delivery vehicles to eliminate emissions, noise and dependence on diesel and gasoline,” said Carlton Rose, president global fleet maintenance and engineering for UPS, said of the order. “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. The all electric trucks will deliver by day and re-charge overnight.”
   “This innovation is the result of Workhorse working closely with UPS over the last 4 years refining our electric vehicles with hard fought lessons from millions of road miles and thousands of packages delivered,” added Workhorse Group CEO Steve Burns. “Our goal is to make it easy for UPS and others to go electric by removing prior roadblocks to large scale acceptance such as cost.”