This autumn, Purolator will join the roster of participating fleets in the North American Council for Freight Efficiency's (NACFE) Run on Less – Electric Depot demonstration.
The Canada Post subsidiary and US Foods of California join the previously announced Frito-Lay, OK Produce, Penske, PepsiCo, Performance Team, Schneider, UPS, and Watt EV participants.
Mike Roeth, executive director of the NACFE, said in a press release, "It's exciting to have a Canadian fleet participating and great to add another California fleet."
Electric Depot will collect information on vehicles, chargers, and infrastructure.
Roeth added, "But the trucks are a crucial component of the run, and having data on a variety of equipment will help fleets with a variety of duty cycles learn how to incorporate electric vehicles into their operations."
Evaluated trucks
Purolator, which has pledged to invest $1 billion over the next seven years in electrifying its network, will measure results using a Class 6 Motiv step van and a Ford eTransit van to deliver e-commerce packages. In the 2021 Run on Less – Electric demonstration, a Motiv step van was assessed by the fleet.
Several vehicles that participated in this year's Run on Less – Electric demonstration will not participate in 2021. PepsiCo will operate two uncommon Tesla Semis as a notable addition.
Two eCascadias will operate in a slip-seat drayage run for Schneider, a Freightliner Custom Chassis step van and an eCascadia will be operated by UPS, and two eCascadias will deliver food for US Foods.
Penske will monitor the performance of a Freightliner eCascadia, a Canadian-made GM BrightDrop, and a Navistar eMV, demonstrating heavy-, light-, and medium-duty duty cycles.
Volvo VNR electrics will support drives by both Performance Team and OK Produce, the latter of which will also utilize Orange EV terminal tractors for data collection.
Frito-Lay will complete urban deliveries with two Ford eTransit vehicles, and WattEV will monitor two Nikola Tre BEVs at the California Port of Long Beach.
The run starts September 11.
