UPS made news recently with the announcement that it was acquiring 100 all-electric delivery trucks for the California market, substantially increasing its current electric fleet from just 28 units scattered across New York City and parts of Europe.

As the electric car market struggles along, there have been reports in the past suggesting that the trucking industry simply was not compatible with electric-powered designs, as the nergy need to move both trucks and cargo was not attainable, added of course to concerns about driving ranges on each charge. Long haul truckers, for example, can't afford long and frequent stops for recharging.

But the dynamics change when the vehicles are for local delivery , maintenance or similar applications where the driving distance per day may be relatively low, and the driver returns to a central location each day.

That's what Frank Jenkins, vice president of sales and marketing for Electric Vehicles International (EVI) headquartered in Stockton, CA, said this week during a interview with our Supply Chain Television Channel. EVI sold the 100 all-electric trucks to UPS after a lengthy collaborative design project, Jenkins said. (Full video clip can be viewed below).

Jenkins first noted that public policies not only in the US but many other parts of the world are going to push the growth of electric vehicles, including not only cars but also trucks in some cases.

"The early adopters are going to be the large fleet customers because they have centralized service, and they have more pressure from the government to green their fleets" Jenkins said. He added that this would include not only firms in the logistics business, but also food and beverage companies, construction, utilities and others.

Jenkins said that besides UPS, Fedex, DHL, AT&T, The Coca-Cola Co., and PepsiCo have purchased all-electric trucks, though on a much smaller scale to date than the UPS order. Many other companies are looking at the benefits "of switching from fossil-fuel based vehicles to electrics," Jenkins said. All told, the company has sold about 1000 electric trucks of one kind or another.

View the Jenkins Interview

From the Supply Chain Television Channel

Jenkins says it is a misconception that today's battery-powered electric engines don't have the power to perform freight operations.

"The horse power, the torque, are equivalent" between diesel and electric powered engines, Jenkins said, adding that the "torque curve" is actually more aggressive with electric engines, meaning they get a truck up to speed more quickly than traditional engines can.

The UPS trucks will have a range of about 90 miles before a recharge is required. They will be able to operate at up to 65 miles per hour. Recharging time will be between 6 and 12 hours, depending on the charging system used. That should mean in most cases that a truck can easily be charged overnight for the next day's operation.

The 90-mile range obviously is a limit for many routes, but that range will increase over time as battery technology improves, Jenkins says. That said, electric trucks for now may be best suited for operation in dense, high congestion areas where a driver typically covers a low amount of miles per day based on the number of stops and the level of traffic.

Jenkins said EVI worked closely with UPS to design and test the trucks, for example performing testing on the tough hills of San Francisco and the cold winter temperatures of Reno, NV, among other driving conditions before the deal was signed. Jenkins said this real world testing period lasted about 90 days.

Still for now, various government subsidies and credits seem to be a key part of the electric truck economics.

The press release, for example, cites the support of a variety of state and local governmental agencies in making the deal happen.

Mike Britt, Director of Maintenance & Engineering for UPS, noted that "EVI is aggressive at identifying and utilizing incentive funding to assist customers with fleet modernization deployments.”

Do you think there is a future for all-electric delivery trucks? Have you looked at this technology? Where do you think it is at? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.

TheGreenSupplyChain.com is now Twittering! Follow us at www.twitter.com/greenscm