Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - February 2024 - 21

ELECTRIFICATION FEATURE
Commercial-truck EV fleets slow to GROW
Electric delivery van is one of many electrified vehicles in the 120,000-vehicle global fleet operated by delivery service UPS.
Even for the largest players, the underdeveloped charging ecosystem is
hampering commercial-truck fleets' electrification efforts.
by Bill Visnic
E
nvironmental regulations and corporate sustainability
goals are driving commercial fleets to
adopt electric trucks in all classes. But the stillevolving
charging infrastructure is stymying
their wider implementation.
That was the consensus of expert trucking-industry
panelists speaking in the " Fleets' Perspective on
Electrification " session at SAE International's 2024
Government/Industry Meeting in Washington, DC in
January. Panelists so repeatedly cited the nascent charging
infrastructure as their chief concern that it became a
running joke of the session. Even for large corporate
fleets ready and able to absorb the extra cost of EV
trucks and invest in the not-inconsiderable expense of
installing private charging facilities, infrastructure issues,
speakers said, are for now mostly inescapable.
Andrew Okuyiga, VP of public affairs for UPS, offered
a vivid example. The multi-national delivery service that
runs 120,000 vehicles worldwide purchased a handful
of eCascadia EV Class 8 tractors sold by Daimler
Trucks' Freightliner unit. Two years later, the UPS facility
that's home to the electric trucks still is waiting for
permitting approval for the electrical service needed to
charge the rigs. He said the facility comes under the
jurisdiction of two counties with differing approaches to
permitting. Also slowing charging-capacity expansion,
he added, is that some utilities " get nervous " when entities
propose installing massive electric capacity.
The immature charging infrastructure isn't the only
factor slowing trucking fleets' adoption of EVs. Fluid figures
regarding total cost of ownership (TCO) also are a
big concern as fleet administrators struggle to underTRUCK
& OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
stand how repair and maintenance for EV trucks - as well as their eventual
resale value - will compare with their internal-combustion counterparts.
" Calculating TCO [for electrified fleet trucks] right now is a challenge,
because they're so new, " said Mike Kastner, senior vice president
of the NTEA, The Work Truck Association.
For some companies, particularly those with sizeable fleets, corporate
sustainability targets may trump TCO's hard numbers. But UPS'
Okuyiga said that 90% of the nation's fleets operate fewer than 100
trucks, so most will need to see TCO figures that justify an investment
in electrification.
" Fleets aren't afraid to pay a little bit more - as long as the TCO
gets at least close to diesel, " said Ken Marko, fleet sustainability manager
for US Foods, a food-distribution and delivery specialist with
16,000-plus vehicles working from 70 U.S. locations. He added that
infrastructure considerations have to include any vehicles' intended
duty cycle, saying recharging times can't get in the way of when the
vehicle is needed.
'On everyone's mind'
The immaturity of EV charging infrastructure " is on everyone's mind, "
asserted NTEA's Kastner. " What charging infrastructure do you actually
need - and can you get the power? " are the questions he said
are being asked by fleets large and small. He added that the availability
of EV trucks is not an issue, with some 160 zero-emissions-capable
chassis currently offered from 40 OEMs, although he noted that
some 80% of current deployments are cargo vans.
US Foods' Marko said the company established a corporate goal of
a 32.5% reduction in greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2032, as
well as a " comprehensive assessment " of its Scope 3 emissions profile
that " intends to engage key suppliers to set science-based emissions
targets by 2027. "
February 2024 21
UPS

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