Run on Less event will track performance of electric trucks in real-world use

PepsiCo is the executive sponsor of, and one of 10 participants in, the National Council for Freight Efficiency’s Run on Less – Electric DEPOT event, scheduled for Sept. 11-30. (Courtesy: NACFE)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — During the Run on Less – Electric DEPOT, scheduled for Sept. 11-30, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) will track the activity of 21 electric trucks as they’re used in actual freight operations. In addition, NACFE will look at total depot electric energy and fuel for all the trucks per day and what that will mean in total electrical energy if all trucks at the depot are converted to electric vehicles.

The Run is designed to help fleets understand the benefits — and challenges — of deploying battery electric trucks in larger numbers.

“As trucking works on decarbonizing, fleets are investing in more electric vehicles at their depots which brings with it many benefits but also some challenges, especially around infrastructure and charging,” said Mike Roeth, executive director of NACFE. “Yet leading fleets are tackling those challenges and are giving us access to their operations so we can share what they are learning with the rest of the industry.”

The Run will feature a variety of classes of trucks covering a full range of duty cycles, from local runs to long-range hauls. Participants include:

Frito-Lay: At Frito-Lay’s Queens, New York, depot, two Ford E-Transit vans will be tracked operating in urban delivery.
OK Produce: At OK Produce in Fresno, California, a Freightliner eCascadia and an Orange EV will be tracked in local fruit and vegetable deliveries and terminal tractor applications, respectively.
Penske: At Penske’s Ontario, California, location, a GM BrightDrop, a Navistar eMV and a Freightliner eCascadia (a light-, a medium- and a heavy-duty truck) will be followed.
PepsiCo: At PepsiCo’s Sacramento, California, depot, two Tesla Semis will be tracked in heavy-load long-haul transport operations.
Performance Team: At Performance Team’s Commerce, California, location, two electric Volvo VNRs will be tracked conducting short-haul routes.
Purolator: At Purolator’s Richmond, British Columbia hub, a Class 6 Motiv step van and a Ford E-Transit will be tracked in business and residential package delivery.
Schneider: At Schneider’s South El Monte, California, location, two Freightliner eCascadias operating in slip-seated drayage will be tracked.
UPS: At UPS in Compton, California, a Freightliner Custom Chassis MT50e last mile step van and a Freightliner eCascadia in a middle mile duty cycle will both be tracked.
US Foods: At US Foods in La Mirada, California, two Freightliner eCascadias will be tracked in food delivery applications.
WattEV: At WattEV’s Long Beach, California location, a BYD 8TT tractor and a Nikola Tre BEV tractor operating at the Port of Long Beach will be tracked.

In preparation for the Run, the NACFE team visited all 10 depots and interviewed 122 people about their experience with electric trucks. To view profiles of the participating fleets, click here.

“We will be updating the metrics daily and adding videos on a regular basis, so we encourage people to follow the Run to learn from these 10 pioneering fleets,” Roeth said.

The Run is made possible by executive sponsor PepsiCo, title sponsors Cummins and Shell, and numerous other event and supporter sponsors.

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