Medium duty trucks: The ‘sweet spot’ for electrification

Look around as you read this article. ​Almost everything in the room has been on a truck at one time or another.  

Indeed, the U.S. trucking industry is responsible for moving nearly three-quarters of all the country’s freight.

Yet while medium- and heavy-duty trucks represent only 10% of vehicles on the road, they are responsible for almost 30% of all transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, 45% of nitrogen oxide emissions, and more than half of fine particulate matter emissions for all vehicles, according to the nonprofit CALSTART.

To put it in perspective, at 450 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, medium- and heavy-duty trucks generate about 3 times the amount of CO2 produced by commercial aviation in the United States, or the amount of emissions generated from the energy use of 59 million homes for one year. With the expanding consumer demand for same-day delivery as well as the post-pandemic travel and hospitality boom, these trucks will log even more miles in the coming years.

Truck emissions affect more than the climate: Increasingly they negatively impact human health. A report from the Environmental Defense Fund found pollution from freight vehicles also disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color, as MD pollution is found in higher rates near highways, warehouses and ports, where these communities abound.

Long term exposure to poor air quality causes increased death rates attributed to cardiovascular diseases and has been linked to lung cancer. Children who grow up in areas with high levels of pollution show reduced lung function, increased rates of asthma, and lower IQ levels in their teens.

While there is no quick fix to the problem, there is an option to help alleviate pollution with a simple change: medium-duty truck electrification. Electrifying hundreds of thousands of fleet vehicles will take less time, cost less money and positively impact more people than nearly any other type of climate or pollution mitigation action. The technology is here today and is only getting better and less expensive.

Why medium-duty trucks are well suited for electrification

Much has been written about the significant challenges associated with electrifying Class 7-8 vehicles, including their long-haul, heavy-duty cycle, the high cost of charging infrastructure, and the need for heavy/big batteries with extended charging times, etc.). These factors do not exist in the medium-duty market.

In fact, medium-duty trucks are extremely well suited to electrification. Here’s why:

• Shorter Route: Many trips in medium-duty trucks (and buses) are local or short-haul, predictable round trips around town and back to the depot at the end of the shift, making it easy to choose the right electric truck (based on range) for the route. And because the trucks return to base at the end of the day, they can charge overnight efficiently and cost-effectively. Motiv customer data suggests a savings of 50 cents per mile driven after switching to an electric truck.

• Battery range: Motiv trucks, equipped with highly efficient LFP batteries, have an approximate range of 150 miles, putting them well within the scope of most middle-mile/medium-duty trucking applications. Indeed, approximately 67-87% of U.S. freight travels in shipments less than 250 miles, according to CALSTART. Motiv’s own data[1] from step vans shows customers are driving our trucks about 40 miles per day — well within the range of our batteries.

• Charging type: Because our powertrain system is 400V, Motiv’s electric trucks are compatible with most public infrastructure and all level 2 and level 3 chargers on the market. Compatibility with level 2 chargers saves fleets on the higher price and installation requirements that come with level 3 charging, as level 2 infrastructure can cost on average one-third to one-fourth of the price of level 3, with oftentimes significantly less lead times and less construction.

Why the market is responding

The twin forces of regulation and innovation are making electrification both inevitable and practicable. With both the carrot (total cost of ownership advantage over gas or diesel, and generous federal and state initiatives) and the stick (increasing regulations) driving demand, costs for the entire electric truck supply chain are coming down while performance, range and charging times are all improving rapidly.

As such, the electrification of the market is accelerating. There are now more than 160 zero-emission truck models available in the United States from more than 40 original equipment manufacturers. The zero-emission, medium-duty truck market has the most options with 73 models available, followed by HD ZETs with 32 models and ZE cargo vans with 23 models.

With these increasingly diverse market offerings, fleets have never had more options capable of meeting their operational needs. This increased competition — along with increasing production volumes and decreasing battery prices — is expected to bring ZET prices down over time, as has been observed in the passenger car market.

Deep experience informs the road ahead

Motiv has developed, manufactured and sold electric step vans, box trucks and shuttles to businesses for the last 15 years, putting more than 300 vehicles on the road. Motiv’s electric fleet has collectively driven 4 million miles and delivered approximately 240 million pounds of goods across the USA and Canada. In 2023, the company’s electric trucks collectively achieved a remarkable 98% uptime, according to Motiv diagnostic data. 

Motiv calculates that about half (45%) of the electric step vans in California and nearly one in five (19%) of the electric step vans deployed nationwide carry the Motiv nameplate. Notably, 10 of the largest 20 medium-duty truck fleets in North America have deployed Motiv vehicles, including Purolator, Vestis (formerly Aramark Uniform Services), Cintas, Bimbo Bakeries and other leading brands.

With repeat orders from discerning and demanding fleet owners, Motiv is rapidly becoming recognized for quality, dependability and unparalleled service.

Motiv is in the process of unifying its drivetrain, battery, software, cab and chassis expertise within the Argo platform. The debut of the first electric truck manufactured by Motiv 100% is slated for the 2026 model year.

[1] Sourced from actual Motiv customer step van driving data April/May, 2024