Numerous electric truck developers have seen increased demand over the past year.
After the success of electric vehicles in the automobile industry, courier companies have begun exploring electrifying their delivery fleets to cut carbon emissions. According to analysts, investors have begun shifting away from electric car developers such as Tesla and putting their money into electric commercial vehicles in response to the rapidly increasing e-commerce boom. Companies like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS have already pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and will begin transitioning to zero-emissions trucks in the coming years.
While Tesla’s futuristic electric Semi truck was initially met with excitement, consistent delays have placed numerous developers ahead of the company in the electric truck race. Workhorse has been developing electric trucks for commercial delivery use over the past few years already—even before there was any significant demand for them. The company has recently gone public on Wall Street and reports that it has received a large order of 1,000 trucks from UPS. So far, Workhorse made a total of $1 million in sales during the first nine months of 2020. Over a dozen companies similar to Workhorse also went public in 2019 as electric car technology continues to garner interest.
Another company, the London-based Arrival, is currently developing electric delivery vans and buses for commercial use as well. Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia have already invested over $120 million in the burgeoning company, while UPS has also placed an even larger order of 10,000 electric vans. Rivian has also raised billions of dollars in capital from companies such as T. Rowe Price, Amazon, and Ford and is currently developing electric delivery trucks for Amazon.
At the same time, companies such as Nikola are working on how to use alternative sustainable technologies to power commercial trucks. They are currently developing hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and have already achieved a market value of over $6 billion thanks to this technology. Another company, Hyliion Holdings, is exploring the use of hybrid electric propulsion systems for semitrucks.
Besides these rising companies, big auto manufacturers such as Ford, Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler have also announced that they will be rolling out electric vans and trucks. Gregory Lewis, an analyst from BTIG Research, has expressed that competition will certainly be tight.
“Not all players are going to make it, but there’s super-duper hype right now,” said Lewis. “There is this generational transition to electric that’s going to happen, and there’s potential for explosive growth, so there’s a lot of excitement.”
The state of California has released a mandate stating that commercial truck fleets should begin shifting to zero emissions by 2024. The United States Postal Service will also be looking to purchase electric trucks (one of the contenders being Workhorse) as it plans to upgrade its delivery fleets for the upcoming year.
The switch to electric power is expected to cut both maintenance and operational costs, since these vehicles no longer need diesel or gasoline, nor regular oil changes. According to Workhorse, the cost of owning an electric truck is approximately half of what could be spent to own and operate a diesel truck for 20 years. The company was hoping to finish building 300 to 400 trucks for the final quarter of 2020. However, production was shut down beginning in November due to a third of its workers contracting the coronavirus.
For more information, visit https://workhorse.com/.
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