After purchasing a Ford E-Transit van for his plumbing business in November, Mitch Smedley found he was spending $110 to $140 a week on fuel for each of his four older diesel Transits. He then calculated how much electricity he was using to charge the electric model to drive the same distance, about 300 miles a week. The cost: around 9 dollars per week.
“It makes it very, very cheap to run,” said Smedley, whose business is in Blue Springs, Missouri.
Until now, light commercial vehicles have accounted for a small proportion of all electric cars and trucks sold, but in many ways, battery-powered vehicles are well-suited for work fleets. Since delivery trucks and vans typically travel limited distances or set routes every day, they don’t need large, expensive battery packs. Most can get by with enough power to travel about 100 miles before needing a recharge.
EVs also require less maintenance than traditional vehicles. They require no oil changes and no transmissions, mufflers or fuel pumps to wear out.
Commercial fleet owners take a close look at the total cost of owning and operating vehicles over several years and are often willing to accept a higher initial price to purchase an electric truck and save money via lower fuel and maintenance costs.
“You save $10,000 to $12,000 a year because the cost of fuel and maintenance is much lower with EVs,” said Brad Jacobs, vice president of Merchants Fleet, a New Hampshire company that manages vehicles used by transportation services. delivery.
However, commercial electric vehicles have gotten off to a slow start in sales, partly due to problems at various manufacturers. Startups like Lordstown Motors, Arrival and Canoo have struggled to get off the ground or ramp up production, as has Workhorse, a small commercial truck maker. Rivian, an Amazon-backed startup, had hoped to sell thousands of electric vans by now to the online retailer, but hasn’t met its goals.
Large delivery companies have been asking for electric trucks for years. Amazon expects to buy up to 100,000 Rivian vans. FedEx plans to buy only battery-powered vans starting in 2030 and hopes to run an all-electric fleet by 2040. It has been testing 150 trucks made by BrightDrop (an independent division of General Motors), is taking delivery of 350 more and has another 2,000 in reserve.
Smedley continues to track the savings from E-Transit.
“When I look at the cost over five years, it’s almost like getting a free van,” he said with a laugh.
By: NEAL E. BOUDETTE
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6747111, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-06-05 22:30:07
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