The shipping company introduced big plans to use electric trucks for its deliveries.
Everyone likes being ahead of schedule. Well, most people, but the folks at UPS are totally running with this idea.
The shipping company just announced its plans to deploy 50 Workhorse-designed UPS electric trucks this year, ahead of a larger order for 2019. To sweeten the deal this will cost about the same as traditional, conventionally fueled trucks.
Testing, Testing
UPS electric trucks will have a range of about 100 miles, this on the heels of self-driving truck company Embark debuting its coast-to-coast test of one of its freight trucks. UPS's fleet will be zero-emission and will start testing vehicles in certain cities this year including Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Based on how they perform and the data the company receives, the vehicle design will be advanced and adapted for the larger order set to hit the road in 2019.
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"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," Carlton Rose, UPS' president of global fleet maintenance and engineering, said in a statement. "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."
Saving So Much Green
The main goal for UPS, beyond cutting some costs and looking for ways to be more efficient in its scheduling, is to make a huge impact on going green. UPS electric trucks are on pace initially to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12% within the next seven years.
Last year, UPS put a reservation in order for Tesla's upcoming line of electric semis and began converting some 1,500 New York-based alternative fuel trucks to electric trucks. UPS currently has 180,000 vehicles worldwide, but it plans to have a quarter of its worldwide fleet be electric or semi-alternative in fuel use by 2020.
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