Tesla lands largest order for its all-electric truck
United Parcel Service (UPS) says it is buying 125 Tesla all-electric trucks, the largest order so far, as the package delivery firm expands its fleet of alternativefuel vehicles.
Tesla is trying to convince the trucking community it can build an affordable electric truck with the range and cargo capacity to compete with relatively lowcost, time-tested diesel trucks.
The Tesla trucks will cost about $200,000 each for a total order of about $25m. UPS expects the heavy-duty trucks that will haul freight along America’s highways, will have a lower total cost of ownership than conventional vehicles, which cost about $120,000.
Tesla has received preorders from such major companies as Walmart, fleet operator JB Hunt Transport Services and food service distributor Sysco.
Before UPS, the largest single pre-order came from PepsiCo for 100 trucks.
UPS said it had provided Tesla with real-world routing information as part of its evaluation of the expected performance of the vehicle.
“As with any introductory technology for our fleet, we want to make sure it’s in a position to succeed,” said Scott Phillippi, UPS’s director for automotive maintenance.
The 125 trucks would allow UPS to conduct a proper test of their abilities. Tesla would provide consultation and support on charging infrastructure.
“We have high expectations and are very optimistic that this will be a good product and it will have firm support from Tesla to make it work,” Phillippi said.
The UPS alternative fuel fleet already includes trucks propelled by electricity, natural gas, propane and other nontraditional fuels.
About 260,000 heavy-duty class-8 trucks are produced in North America annually, according to industry economics research firm FTR.
Including the UPS order, Tesla has at least 410 pre-orders in hand.
Navistar International and Volkswagen hope to launch a smaller, electric medium-duty truck by late 2019, while rival Daimler has delivered the first of a smaller range of electric trucks to customers in New York.
Tesla unveiled its electric truck in November and expects it to be in production by 2019.