While electric vehicle sales to the average driver have lagged in 2024, EVs have managed to pick up steam in the freight industry, as fleet managers have doubled down.
Telematics company Geotab tracked an 81% increase in EV adoption among U.S. commercial fleets between 2022 and 2023, as technology and infrastructure have rapidly grown in kind. A separate survey from consulting firm TRC Company found that the number of new battery electric vehicle deliveries combined among schools, shuttles, states, delivery providers, waste management and long haul sectors doubled in 2023.
Geotab’s senior manager of sustainable mobility Charlotte Argue says that there are several factors driving this trend. First and foremost is the availability of the technology itself, with a wider range of EV vehicles, from vans to semi-trucks, giving fleet managers more choices to fit their needs. And while a lack of widespread charging infrastructure — and the hours it can take to recharge — have slowed the transition for long-haul trucking, it’s been a much easier path forward for EV fleets making shorter trips.
“We really have to think of how much range a single charge can give a truck, and then also the opportunity for that battery to recharge,” Argue says, pointing out that vehicles in last-mile delivery fleets travel an average of just 100 miles a day, and are often parked for 10 or more hours at a time over a 24-hour period, giving them plenty of time to recharge.
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“That tells us there’s a huge opportunity for the battery technology that we have today to fulfill some of those duty cycles,” she says.
Last-mile and drayage fleets have the added advantage of short, consistent and predictable routes within small areas, and can be supported by charging infrastructure at ports and warehouses. Major freight hubs have already received significant investments for that infrastructure, too, with ports in California, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey getting $150 million in federal funds in April to replace diesel trucks with EVs and upgrade their systems to support vehicle charging.
Convenience isn’t the only thing driving fleet managers toward EVs, though. Many have made public commitments to cut their carbon emissions, and “the transition to battery electric is a big component of how they’re going to meet those goals,” Argue says. That includes Walmart, which is targeting zero emissions across its global operations by 2040. The retail giant rolled out a fleet of new hydrogen-powered electric semi-trucks in Ontario, Canada in June. Amazon has an identical goal, and deployed 50 EV trucks to haul freight in Southern California in May.
“The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and we have a huge opportunity with battery electric trucks to bring that part of the pie down,” Argue says. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation accounted for 28% of GHG emissions in the U.S. in 2022. Light-duty vehicles —
which can include certain types of trucks and vans — account for 57% of those emissions, with medium- and heavy-duty trucks making up 23%.
