Frito-Lay Begins Electric Delivery Service in NY This Month
By John O'Dell September 8, 2010Snack Food Company Plans to Field Nation's Largest EV Truck Fleet
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Ahh. No more smelly, noisy diesel trucks in the alley at 5 am. Almost makes all those calories worthwhile.
Snack foods maker Frito-Lay says it will take delivery this month of the first five of what eventually will be 176 battery-electric delivery trucks that will be bringing its chips and other goodies to convenience stores, gas stations and markets in New York City, Fort Worth and Columbus, Ohio by the end of next year.
The company, working with Kansas City-based Smith Electric Vehicles U.S., is acquiring the Smith Newton, a medium-duty covered delivery truck and says the first five will be placed into service in New York.
The company intends to acquire 21 of the trucks this year and up to 155 more in 2011.
The Newton can be configured several ways as ether a medium or heavy-duty truck (Class 3 to Class 6), with payload capacities of from 3 to 8 tons.
Smith, which was spun out of a British electric truck maker of the same name and now is in the process of acquiring the U.K. business, manufacturers the only large electric truck so far approved for road-worthiness in the U.S.
The company recently received a $32 million federal advanced technology vehicles manufacturing grant and said it will use part of the money to subsidize customer purchases or its vehicles to help spur sales.
In addition to Frito-Lay (a division of PepsiCo), Smith also has sold its trucks to Coca-Cola, AT&T, Pacific Gas &Electric and the U.S. military.
Frito-Lay's has agreed to acquire 176 of the trucks would give it the largest battery-electric truck fleet in North American and could provide a significant sales tool for Smith (and other electric-truck makers).
The Newton can travel up to 100 miles on a single charge and is an extremely low-maintenance vehicle, a big plus for fleet operators. the truck has no tailpipe emissions and is virtually silent, making it an ideal delivery vehicle in noise- and pollution-impacted cities.
Frito-Lay has estimated that it will save 500,000 gallons of fuel a year when all 176 electric trucks are in use.
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