Lightning eMotors announced March 30 that Fluid Truck has ordered 40 additional zero-emission delivery trucks for its New York City fleet. These vehicles will be utilized by XPO Logistics and NAL Group in their support of IKEA Retail U.S. last-mile delivery efforts.
Ten electric delivery box trucks from Lightning eMotors have already been put into service within the Fluid Truck network system to serve Manhattan. An additional 30 vehicles from Colorado-based Lightning eMotors will be deployed over the next few months.
The all-electric vehicles are being deployed by third-party logistics partners NAL Group and XPO Logistics. The companies are renting the vehicles via the Fluid Truck rental platform, which allows businesses to easily rent and pickup vehicles from nearby locations 24/7, 365 days a year.
The electric delivery trucks will operate out of a new 975,000-square-foot distribution center on Staten Island. The center is managed by CEVA Logistics, a global-logistics firm.
The Lightning Electric Class 4 commercial box trucks will deliver products to all five boroughs of New York City. They feature 129 kWhs of battery capacity with a range of 120 miles and can be charged in just under two hours by an 80-kW on-board DC fast charger.
Fluid Truck is the process of incorporating 600 Lightning Electric vehicles onto their platform, rolling out the vehicles to several cities throughout the United States. Users can book vehicles through the Fluid Truck website or their mobile application.
These last-mile delivery vehicles feature Lightning Analytics, a cloud-based telematics system that provides predictive maintenance, route scoring, range analysis, driver behavior, and geofencing for maximum range and efficiency.
“Lightning provides customers with the option to use a range of traditional OEM chassis or custom chassis,” said Kash Sethi, chief revenue officer of Lightning eMotors. “We are using a Ford chassis for these particular trucks, which provides the customer with a safety-certified chassis that supports over 1,000 upfit options for boxes, lifts, shelving, flooring, and interior systems, and provides the customer with the peace of mind knowing they have a well-established worldwide network for support, service, and spare parts.”
Lightning eMotors is in the process of closing a definitive agreement with GigCapital3, a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Upon closing this spring, the combined operating company will be named Lightning eMotors and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company will be listed under the ticker symbol [“ZEV”]. The agreement is expected to be completed during the second quarter of this year.
