What EVs mean for F&B distribution fleets

Food and beverage distributors are a pillar of the restaurant and grocery retail industry – and today they’re some of the businesses most impacted by environmental regulations like California’s ACF rules (the law of the land that requires many distribution fleets to transition to EV now). While green credentials has been nice marketing for a while, adopting electric vehicles is quickly becoming a mandate, not a nice-to-have.

The bright side of this change is that light and medium duty EVs are finally becoming widely available – and affordable, too. The F&B distributor’s biggest challenge is actually different: keeping these vehicles charged without interrupting their missions, and without needing to hire new depot operations managers.

Lessons from the US’s largest food distribution center

The Food Distribution Center in Hunts Point of the Bronx is the largest of its kind in the US, with a massive fresh produce terminal, fish market, and warehouses for everyone from nationals like Dairyland to regional family-owned distributors like Katzman’s. Literally tens of thousands of restaurants, grocers, and corner stores are stocked weekly by fleets based in and around this distribution center.

You might be surprised to know that a comprehensive survey of the fleet operators here showed their distribution routes were hands-down achievable with the EVs available today from Mitsubishi Fuso, Daimler Trucks and others. In fact, in the case of Hunts Point, the average delivery route was under 60 miles – compare that to the eCanter’s 80 to 200 mile range options. Furthermore, while EV trucks remain more expensive, government incentives covered over 90% of the cost difference for the fleets who upgraded to electric, and the cost savings on fuel and maintenance easily make electric trucks more cost effective for most fleets. That’s why several fleets at Hunts Point have already begun adopting electric trucks on many of their routes. So where’s the rub?

The lack of charging infrastructure is proving to be the biggest challenge slowing fleet managers trying to integrate EVs.

While EVs get the job done just like diesel trucks, fueling them is quite different.

First, charging is much slower than fueling. Fleets can’t waste driver time stopping at a public charging station. Instead, fleets need to be charging when and where their trucks are already normally sitting idle. That means distributors at Hunts Point need charging for their vehicles at the lots they park at overnight or when waiting for pickups.

Second, charging takes a lot of power. So when fleets try to build charging stations on-site, they end up stuck in years-long queues for utility upgrades, or they have to start using complex electrical equipment to store and generate power on-site.

So how ready is infrastructure, really?

The infrastructure to charge commercial vehicles is ready to scale – in theory. The good news is that we aren’t waiting on breakthrough new technologies to make charging possible. The bad news is that the charging equipment out there is far too complex to build, operate and expand for the average fleet (if you want to know why, check out our longer explainer on how fleet charging works at warehouses & distribution centers).

Katzman’s distributors in Hunts Point were early adopters – and reportedly spent 10 years going through the design, permitting, installation and adjustments to their various electrical systems to keep their zero emissions refrigerated trailers running. In other locations throughout the US, fleet managers are having to become experts on managing conversations with utilities on the one hand, and calculating what electrical load their fleet is forecasted to need when procuring equipment on the other hand. Fleet managers don’t have the time or resources to do this. They need a simple and effective tool to make EV charging easy to roll out and operate.

Port Power makes EV as easy as diesel

Port Power was founded by EV industry veterans to solve this exact problem. We are a full solution provider that partners with fleet operators and their real estate partners to solve the charging problem today and scale it to handle all future needs.

Unlike the EV charging infrastructure help that might come from an OEM, a charge point operator, or your local utility, Port Power is an independent player responsive to the specific needs of your fleet.

Unlike consulting firms and electrical contractors, Port was founded around a set of proprietary technologies that allow us to deliver solutions that are truly hassle-free and capable of scaling up in an economical way as your fleet adopts more EVs.

Whether you are a fleet operator buying your first EV trucks or a warehouse property manager whose clients have asked about supporting EV, reach out to schedule a consultation with the team at Port Power for help with:

• Clearly understanding the transition timelines that apply to your business
• Getting the full range of options you have to manage this transition
• Having a soup-to-nuts, managed solution for all your charging needs
• Getting the government incentives your business deserves without the headache of manual reporting

Get in touch with us today: https://portpower.us/contact/