Pace of heavy EV sales quickens with two recent deals

Sales of heavy-duty all-electric vehicles showed signs of picking up this week, particularly in California, when two regional fleets, Performance Team and 4 Gen Logistics, both announced large orders for all-electric Class 8 tractors from Volvo and Kenworth, respectively.

Class 8 EVs have the highest hurdle and the most limited applications, stakeholders in electric adoption have said, because of their shorter range, relative to diesel-burning tractors, and the scarcity of infrastructure for them to recharge away from their home plug-in depots.

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But carriers that operate in California find a state that offers more generous and available government- and electric utility-sponsored incentives to buy EVs and build infrastructure. And the area in and around the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach offers a “use case” for heavy electrics to survive and thrive until battery ranges expand and charging locations widen.

Enter Performance Team, which is owned by Maersk, the ocean shipping company and container logistics and supply chain operator. Performance Team ordered 110 VNR Electrics from Volvo Trucks to operate in its Southern California port drayage and warehouse operations, adding to its purchase of 16 Volvo VNR Electrics in the third quarter of 2021, according to a March 29 release from Volvo.

The first and second Performance Team orders were both Volvo’s largest at the time for its all-electric Class 8s. Performance Team is scheduled to deploy the first 16 VNRs by the second quarter of this year and will have the second 110 EVs operating by Q1 2023, according to the Volvo release.

The order was facilitated by TEC Equipment, Volvo’s largest West Coast dealership, which last year became the first in North America to receive the OEM’s Certified Electric Vehicle Dealer designation. TEC’s Fontana and La Mirada, California, locations will support Performance Team service teams to safely maintain the battery-electric trucks.

Also enter 4 Gen Logistics, which on March 28 announced the purchase of 20 Kenworth T680E electric Class 8s. 4 Gen also operates in SoCal with a yard in Wilmington to provide drayage services to the Port of Long Beach and a terminal in Rialto near San Bernardino, which serves the Inland Empire. The transportation company plans to base its Kenworth T680E EVs at those two facilities.

Of sustainability, carbon footprints—and California incentives

“Volvo Trucks, in partnership with our dealer TEC Equipment, is excited to continue growing our collaboration with Maersk on its fleet sustainability goals and commends the organization’s scaled investments in electromobility solutions,” said Peter Voorhoeve, Volvo Trucks North America’s president.

“Incredibly, this is the second time in less than a year that Volvo Trucks has had the opportunity to announce that Performance Team … has placed the largest order of Volvo VNR Electrics to date, which underscores their organization’s firm commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.”

The Volvo VNR Electric is designed for local and regional distribution, pickup and delivery, and food and beverage distribution. In January, Volvo Trucks announced production plans for its next-generation VNR Electric model with a range of up to 275 miles. The Volvo VNR Electric comes with 250kW charging capability, enabling an 80% charge in 90 minutes for the six-battery package and 60 minutes of downtime to charge for the four-battery version of the heavy EV.

David Duncan is an owner of 4 Gen Logistics and is VP of operations for the Phoenix-based Duncan and Son Lines. The two companies operate a combined 147 Kenworth T680s, including three that run on compressed natural gas (CNG).

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According to a release from Kenworth, Duncan attended Kenworth’s “Driving to Zero Emissions” customer event in January at the Paccar Innovation Center in Sunnyvale, California, where he had the chance to test drive a T680E and learn more about the EV, which went into production last year.

“I was very impressed,” Duncan said of the T680E. “I especially noticed that the T680E is very quiet and responsive.” He said the test drive helped influence his decision to place the T680E order through Inland Kenworth-Phoenix. The T680E is designed for pickup and delivery, regional haul, and drayage applications, and is available in a day cab configuration as either a tractor or straight truck. The T680E has an 82,000-lb. gross vehicle weight rating and an estimated operating range of 150 miles.

The Kenworth electric Class 8 is eligible for a base $120,000 voucher incentive available to qualifying California buyers from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) through its Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). The company also applied for grant money from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) in Southern California.

“We take pride in being early adopters of the latest technologies the industry offers, and we look forward to being one of Kenworth’s first customers to place the Kenworth T680E into operation,” Duncan said. “4 Gen is committed to becoming a zero-emissions fleet by 2025—10 years before California requires drayage trucks operating in the state to achieve that standard,” he added.

‘Policy drives the market’

Governments and fleets are driving the emergence of EVs worldwide in freight transportation at all levels, said stakeholders in a recent webinar, “Energize Your Fleet With These Innovative Programs,” which was coordinated by Shell Recharge Solutions and highlighted the California incentive programs available to early adopters of fleet electrification such as Performance Team and 4 Gen Logistics.

Big-name fleets—such as Walmart, Amazon, Penske—account for 20% of all EV adoption, but they have access to the private capital to invest in the electrification movement. Smaller fleets—the Performance Teams, the 4 Gen Logistics—can thank government incentives for much of the financing to switch, and they are able to pave the way because of Golden State incentives such HVIP and the California Energy Commission’s EnergIIZE program, which has pledged $50 million for e-vehicles and their infrastructure.

“Policy drives market. One of the most important drivers of the market is policy,” Josh Cohen, director of policy at Shell Recharge Solutions, said during the webinar, which was facilitated by Advanced Clean Tech News, noting the advancement of incentives for EVs in California that could be duplicated nationwide.

Cohen added: “California is kind of leading the way.”