Not long after buying a Ford E-Transit van for his plumbing business last November, Mitch Smedley sat down with some receipts and a calculator to figure out how much the electric vehicle was saving him in fuel costs.
A few minutes of number crunching showed he was spending between $110 and $140 a week on fuel for each of the four oldest diesel vehicles in his fleet. He then determined how much electricity he used to charge the electric model to travel the same distance: about 300 miles per week. Cost: About $9 per week.
“I knew there would be savings because our electricity here is so cheap,” said Mr. Smedley, who has his company in Blue Springs, Missouri, east of Kansas City. “But I was surprised when I solved it. That makes it very, very cheap to operate.”
In the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles, passenger vehicles have led the way. In the first quarter of 2023, sales of electric vehicles were 45 percent higher than in the same period a year ago to 259,000 cars and trucks, according to Cox Automotive, a research firm. Tesla remains the biggest seller by far, while General Motors, Ford Motor, Hyundai, Volkswagen and others sell several electric models. Cox expects total annual sales of electric vehicles in the US market to exceed one million this year for the first time.
To date, light commercial vehicles represent a small proportion of all electric cars and trucks sold, but in many ways battery-powered vehicles are well suited for work fleets. Because delivery trucks and vans often travel limited distances or set routes each day, they don’t need large, expensive batteries. Most can top themselves with enough power to travel about 100 miles before needing a recharge. One factor that makes electric cars significantly more expensive than internal combustion models is that consumers want the ability to travel 250 or 300 miles on a single charge because they fear being stranded far from anywhere to plug in.
Commercial vehicles are usually parked overnight in lots where they can be easily charged and ready to run with a full battery in the morning. Electric trucks also require less maintenance than traditional vehicles. They don’t need oil changes and have no transmissions, mufflers or fuel pumps that can wear or break. And they don’t burn fuel at idle.
More than consumers, commercial fleet owners look closely at the total cost of owning and operating vehicles over several years. This means they are often willing to accept a higher upfront price to buy an electric truck to save money over time through lower fuel and maintenance costs.
However, commercial electric vehicles have had a slower start to sales, in part due to problems at several companies hoping to make them. Upstarts such as Lordstown Motors, Arrival and Canoo have struggled to start or ramp up production, as has Workhorse, a small commercial truck maker. Rivian, an Amazon-backed start-up, had hoped to sell thousands of electric vans to the online retailer, but has fallen far short of its targets.
The delays created an opening for Ford and GM, two of the nation’s largest automakers, to roll out their own battery-powered work trucks. The E-Transit, a derivative of Ford’s Transit commercial van, is available in several sizes and can be used as a delivery van, shuttle bus or as a work truck for contractors, repairmen, plumbers and other small businesses .
Ford sold about 6,500 E-Transit last year. In March, the US Postal Service ordered 9,250 e-Transits that are expected to enter service by the end of 2024.
GM created a separate division, BrightDrop, to make a larger vehicle tailored for package and cargo delivery. BrightDrop produced a test fleet of about 500 battery vans that were delivered to customers in 2022 and began commercial production of its Zevo 600 model at a plant in Ontario this year.
Along with the truck, BrightDrop has developed an electric trolley to allow drivers to transport many packages from the truck, reducing the number of round trips the driver makes. A version of the cart is refrigerated for product and grocery deliveries.
In Hooksett, NH, Merchants Fleet, a company that manages vehicles used by delivery services, has been testing 150 BrightDrop vans over the past year and is eager to add more.
Brad Jacobs, the company’s vice president of fleet consulting, said the depreciation cost and interest cost of capital used to buy electric vans is about the same as for trucks with a combustion engine.
“What we’ve learned from on-road vehicles is that you save $10,000 to $12,000 a year because the cost of fuel and maintenance is so much lower with electric vehicles,” he said. “If a company plans a five-year life, that’s a savings of $50,000 per vehicle. That’s very compelling.”
Mr. Jacobs said Merchants Fleet has orders for 750 more BrightDrop trucks and reservations for 17,000 more.
Large delivery companies have been asking for electric trucks for years. Amazon expects to buy up to 100,000 vans from Rivian and is considering a Ram ProMaster electric van that Chrysler’s parent company Stellantis is supposed to start making this year.
UPS has ordered 10,000 electric vans from Arrival, a Luxembourg-based start-up with operations in Great Britain. Arrival has suffered from financial problems and production delays. FedEx plans to buy only battery-powered vans starting in 2030 and hopes to operate an all-electric fleet by 2040. It has been testing 150 BrightDrop trucks, is delivering 350 more, and has reservations for an additional 2,000.
Nelson Granados, a FedEx delivery driver in Inglewood, Calif., has been using a BrightDrop vehicle for the past year, a white van with the orange and purple FedEx logo next to an image of a bright green plug and an electric cable.
Mr. Granados gives the truck a thumbs up. The truck has amenities that diesel vans don’t have, such as a stereo and heated seats, as well as a lower floor that makes it easier to get in and out. “You’re in and out all day, so it’s worth it,” said Mr. grenades “It’s like a luxury delivery truck.”
Mr. Smedley, the Kansas City-area plumber, has noticed benefits for his E-Transit in addition to fuel savings. On job sites, the truck can power equipment such as drain cleaning machines, eliminating the need to carry a generator. He started taking the van to Kansas City Chiefs games (he has season tickets) so he can use its electrical outlets for parties. The truck also gets you premium parking in Arrowhead Stadium spots reserved for electric vehicles.
This year, Mr. Smedley decided to add a second electric model to his fleet, a Ford F-150 Lighting pickup truck. He has also continued to track the savings he is getting with E-Transit.
“When I look at the five-year cost,” he said with a laugh, “it’s almost like having a free van.”
