With more than a dozen electric trucks and big-name fleets such as Frito-Lay, Anheuser Busch, and DHL, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and RMI kicked off this year’s Run on Less – Electric (RoL–E) demonstration at ACT Expo 2021. The program, aimed at measuring efficiency in trucking, will measure the trucks over the next three weeks, as well as their diesel counterparts to tally the amount of carbon emitted.
“The transition to electric trucks is happening in the trucking industry all over North America,” said Mike Roeth, executive director at NACFE. “Our preliminary findings based on early adopters show that switching from a gasoline or diesel-powered vehicle to an electric one is affordable. And there is now inertia in the trucking industry that will speed up adoption in coming years.”
Following in step with the program’s innovative predecessors, RoL–E will introduce electric trucks to the mix, highlighting the momentum within the trucking industry for adopting cleaner delivery vehicles. According to NACFE, this movement is becoming critical, with North American delivery increasing during the e-commerce boom fueled by the pandemic. Currently, commercial truck emissions account for 24% of emissions in the U.S., with trucks emitting more carbon than gasoline-powered passenger cars on average.
Data will be collected daily during the event and streamed live online, with final results unveiled the week of September 20. Preliminary interviews with drivers, fleet operators, and delivery companies found that early adopters of electric vehicles are confirming acceptable levels of total cost of ownership with medium-duty vans and trucks, terminal tractors, and short regional haul applications. And while there is still some concerns about infrastructure and range, there is a huge demand for real-world information on electrifying commercial vehicles, as well as the necessary charging infrastructure.
“At Penske, we support customers with a wide variety of different truck solutions—including electric vehicles,” said Paul Rosa, senior vice president procurement and fleet planning, Penske. “Run on Less – Electric is going to highlight some of the early adopters of electric trucks, like Penske, while exhibiting the key benefits and challenges in each segment. We are excited to be part of this and encourage all parties helping to improve EV operations to follow the Run.”
In addition NACFE also revealed the names of the 13 drivers participating as well as the carriers and truck manufacturers:
- Rene Solis, driving a BYD tractor for Anheuser-Busch
- Joseph Villaneuva, driving a Cummins box truck for Frito-Lay
- Donald DiSesa, driving a Freightliner eCascadia for Penske
- Jazmin Vasquez, driving a Kalmar Ottawa electric terminal tractor for NFI
- Antonio Grimila, driving a Lightning eMotors van for DHL
- Francis Lajoie, driving a Lion6 electric truck for Day & Ross
- Ray Hancock, driving a Lonestar Specialty Vehicles terminal tractor for Ryder
- Alexander Schaumann, driving a Motiv-Powered step van for Purolator
- Conrad Hanson, driving an Orange EV terminal tractor for Ruan
- Pat Brandon, driving a Peterbilt 579EV for Biagi Bros.
- Michael Johnson, driving a Roush CleanTech truck for Roush Fenway Racing
- Jeffrey Howard, driving a Volvo electric VNR for NFI
- Stephen Garrett, driving a Workhorse C1000 for Servall Electric
