Transportation services provider Penske Truck Leasing is expanding its fleet of electric-powered Class 8 trucks for the U.S. market, announcing Wednesday that it has added an array of electric terminal trucks from automaker Orange EV.
The vehicles are designed for short-distance moves such as trailer-handling operations in truck yards, warehousing and distribution centers, container terminals and related operations.
Penske declined to disclose the number of trucks or the value of its investment.
The move is the latest purchase of battery-powered trucks for Reading, Pennsylvania-based Penske Truck Leasing, which has also purchased electric vehicles (EVs) in the past such as the Navistar International eMV medium-duty model, Freightliner eM2 box truck, and Freightliner eCascadia semi.
The newest units are made by Orange EV, a Riverside, Missouri-based automaker that delivered its first terminal truck in 2015, and has since sold over 385 trucks for more than 120 fleets across 26 states, Canada, and the Caribbean.
The Orange units will be leased and maintained by Penske. Customers will charge the vehicles in their own yards, plugging them in while the vehicles are not in operation. According to Orange, the vast majority of customer sites can deploy its yard truck and charging solution within their existing electrical infrastructure capacity. The company has a range of chargers and charging speeds available to meet the needs of each site, with minimal setup needed.
According to Orange, the benefits of using its electric yard truck design instead of an internal combustion engine include: operating up to 24 hours on a single charge, regenerative braking with 50% shorter stopping distance, zero tailpipe emissions, digital cab architecture, and remote diagnostic capabilities.
