UPS Touts Cost Parity of New Electric Trucks

United Parcel Services of America Inc. is adding 50 electric vehicles to its delivery truck fleet that the company says are priced about the same as similar piston-powered trucks.

The electric trucks are produced by Loveland, Ohio-based Workhorse Group Inc., which also has supplied other EVs to UPS.

UPS says the acquisition cost parity is achieved without any subsidies, which the company claims is an industry first. Operating costs for the electric models are expected to be lower than those of a delivery truck with a diesel or gasoline engine.

The Class 5 electric trucks have an estimated driving range of 100 miles per charge. Technical details about the electric powertrain and battery haven’t been announced.

UPS will test the vehicles this year in such large metropolitan areas as Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. Workhorse will use the information to fine-tune additional trucks it will begin supplying to UPS in 2019.

The truck manufacturer was formed in 2007 as AMP Electric Vehicles. The company changed its name in 2015 after acquiring the Workhorse brand and an assembly plant in Union, Ind., from Navistar International Corp.’s Workhorse Custom Chassis subsidiary.

UPS currently operates more than 300 electric trucks and nearly 700 hybrid-electric models in the U.S. and Europe. The company’s alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet of 9,000 vehicles also includes ethanol, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane and hybrid-hydraulic systems.

The company says at least 25% of the new vehicles it purchases by 2020 will use alternative fuel/powertrain systems. In recent months the company has ordered 125 electric Semi tractors from Tesla and three medium-duty eCanter electric trucks from Daimler Trucks’ Fuso brand.