July 22, 2019

As the transportation industry explores a shift to electric power, heavy-duty trucking fleets have begun examining the potential benefits and ramifications. Horton Vice President of Research and Development Dave Hennessy recently laid out facets of both in an article published by Fleet Owner magazine.

“There are pros and cons to having an electric fleet,” Hennessy writes. “For some, it might make a big difference in cost and environmental impact, but to others it may not provide the return on investment necessary to justify the change.”

Hennessy says fleets should consider factors such as fleet size, location and purpose before making any decisions regarding electrification. Large trucks from a fleet that’s hurting for physical space that haul coast-to-coast, for example, are much tougher to transition than smaller vehicles from a mom-and-pop fleet that doesn’t put on as many miles for shipments.

The process is ongoing.

“Electrification is still a relatively new technology, and the fleet industry is not quite prepared to go there yet — so you can imagine it will take some time before we’re seeing large fleets switch over,” wrote Hennessy. “After all, it’s much easier to start from scratch with electrification than it is to retro-fit existing fleets with this technology.”