EDF analysis finds American fleets are embracing electric trucks – Clean Energy

By Jason Mathers and Ellen Bell

Truck fleets across the country are enthusiastically embracing the emergence of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks. This is the main finding of a new EDF analysis of public announcements and known deployments of leading fleets. EDF found nearly 500 existing electric deployments and pledges to deploy nearly 300 times more vehicles as additional models become available.

The analysis, which will be updated periodically to reflect new announcements and pledges, is available via a sortable Google Sheet.

Some notable deployments include:

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Many fleets are demonstrating their strong interest in zero-emission transportation with large procurement commitments. These include:

Companies are also signaling their future direction through corporate sustainability strategies and commitments. As part of its analysis, EDF examined the fleet commitments of companies with the largest fleets and found that 17 have committed to transition all or significant parts of their fleet to electric vehicles. An additional 14 companies have set targets to cut emissions at least 50% by 2035.

Key examples include:

• Walmart is targeting zero global operational emissions by 2040. This includes electrifying its vehicles (including long-haul trucks) by 2040.
• FedEx has pledged a 100% electric pick-up and delivery fleet and carbon-neutral operations by 2040.
• PepsiCo plans to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions across its direct operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 75% and its indirect value chain (Scope 3) by 40% by 2030. In addition, the company has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

Interest in electric trucks has become a mainstream focus within the trucking industry. Leading fleets recognize that zero-emission vehicles, particularly electric vehicles, are increasingly able to perform the jobs needed and are likely to offer lower total costs within a few years. These companies and their direct customers — major brands that depend on trucks to get goods to market — should understand, that electric trucks can also help reduce the pollution from warehouses and other large freight facilities.

Now is the time to build on this excitement with firm targets for transitioning to electric trucks and bold policies that help fleets accelerate deployments today while making clear that the future of industry must be zero-emission.