FedEx is expanding its alternative-energy vehicle fleet with the first all-electric FedEx parcel delivery trucks in the United States.
Four purpose-built electric trucks “optimized for electric operation from the wheels up” are slated to hit the road in the Los Angeles area starting in June 2010, joining more than 1,800 alternative-energy vehicles already in service for FedEx around the world.
Two of the new all-electric trucks come from Navistar, and are being assembled in Indiana. These are based on the Modec design already operated by FedEx in Europe. Ten such Modec vehicles serve FedEx routes in London and five more are on order for Paris.
Another pair of electric vehicles is being purchased from a different manufacturer for delivery to the Los Angeles area later in 2010. Both sets of electric vehicles are designed with a range that allows many FedEx Express couriers to make a full eight-hour shift of deliveries before their vehicles need recharging.
A FedEx-branded prototype all-electric truck from Navistar is being unveiled today at an event in Chicago to kick-off a demonstration tour of the technology. The vehicle will be operated for FedEx customers, employees, and local officials in several stops along historic Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.
By the end of June, the FedEx alternative energy fleet will have grown to 1,869 vehicles in service around the world, helping to diversify and expand the all-electric and hybrid-electric vehicle market around the globe. Beyond the nine new electric trucks to be deployed in Los Angeles and Paris, FedEx has purchased ten additional hybrid-electric vehicles that will be added to its California fleet throughout the spring, based in Oakland.
FedEx currently operates the largest hybrid fleet in the transportation industry, along with one of the largest alternative energy vehicle fleets, and is committed to improving its overall vehicle fuel efficiency 20 percent by 2020.
In conjunction with Environmental Defense Fund, FedEx led the launch of the development of the first commercial-grade hybrid-electric delivery vehicles. That hybrid-electric technology has now been adopted by more than 100 fleets, and the FedEx hybrid vehicle fleet recently passed the five million mile mark in daily service”the equivalent of 200 trips around the Equator.
