Uber’s commercial trucking division, Uber Freight, is launching its first zero-emission, battery electric semi truck pilot program.
“Electric trucks are finally here,” said Uber Freight’s head of sustainability, Illina Frankiv, following the company’s announcement to partner with WattEV, an electric trucking and charging infrastructure company, on select routes in Southern California.
The pilot program aims to grow nationwide, using WattEV’s electric heavy-duty transportation network and that company’s existing fleet of 50 of Volvo ‘s VNR second-generation electric semi trucks. “WattEV is thrilled to purchase our first battery-electric Class 8 trucks from Volvo Trucks as they quickly scale their electric truck supply and dealer support network across the nation,” said Salim Youssefzadeh, the company’s CEO, when the initial purchase was announced last year. “We are grateful to partner with an OEM that shares the same commitment to freight electrification throughout North America.”
Uber Freight is the second company to partner with WattEV and use its “trucking as a service” platform — the first being Junction Collaborative Transports (JCT), another California-based company specializing in drayage services. The Uber deal, though, sees Watt EV’s trucks hitting the open road for the first time and servicing Uber’s global shipping clients with a ZEV fleet.
“Our business relies on heavy-duty road transport,” explains Marisa Sanchez Urrea, the director of global supply chain decarbonization for CHEPS, and Uber Freight client. “[That’s] one of the biggest challenges to transition our value chain to net-zero emissions by 2040, CHEP’s long-term decarbonization goal. This first electric truck pilot in the US … is a step in the right direction as we move towards a net positive impact.”
The pilot program will help the company expand its network as it develops routes from the Port of Long Beach to the Inland Empire and Central Valley, with plans to expand to North Carolina and Arizona.
SOURCE | IMAGES: UBER FREIGHT, VIA ELECTREK.
FTC: We use income-earning auto affiliate links. Learn more.
