Peterbilt Motors has delivered the first Peterbilt Model 220EV to PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division. Frito-Lay will use six of the battery-electric medium-duty trucks as part of its Modesto, Calif., Zero- and Near-Zero-Emission Friehgt Facility Project announced earlier this month.

“Peterbilt continues to lead the charge in electric commercial vehicle development. With Frito-Lay's Model 220EV, Peterbilt will have 15 battery-electric trucks in three applications — city delivery, regional haul, and refuse — in customers' hands running real routes and collecting real world validation data,” said Jason Skoog, Paccar vice president and Peterbilt general manager.

The zero-emission 220EV is powered by two battery packs with a total capacity of 148kWh and a Meritor Blue-Horizon two-speed drive eAxle. It features a range of more than 100 miles and a recharge time of one hour, making it ideal for local pick-up and delivery operations.

“Frito-Lay is continuously exploring current and emerging technologies for our freight equipment as we work toward reducing PepsiCo’s absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030,” said Michael O’Connell, vice president of supply chain, PepsiCo. “PepsiCo and Frito-Lay have a longstanding relationship with Peterbilt, and are excited to partner in the advancement of electric vehicles within our fleet and to be the first customer to put the Model 220EV in service in our delivery operations.”

Peterbilt’s Model 220EV was introduced at CES in January 2019 and now joins the Models 579EV and 520EV in customer field trials. In addition to customer testing, Peterbilt is engaged in validation testing at the Paccar Technical Center (PTC) in Mount Vernon, Wash., where trucks are stringently tested in a variety of scenarios to ensure the highest levels of quality and performance.