When most folks think of the electrification of transportation, they naturally think about electric cars. And all those new models coming out — from Ford’s Mach-e to Volkswagen’s ID.4 — are super exciting.
But of equal importance is all those other vehicles big and small that aren’t carrying passengers on commutes or to the local Starbucks, but that are toiling behind the scenes. Vehicles such as the big rigs that carry goods across state lines, vans that drop off packages at your front door, garbage trucks that pick up our waste or the forklifts that move pallets across the floor in warehouses.
Electrifying these commercial vehicles will be potentially even more important than passenger vehicles for reducing carbon emissions and for cleaning up local air pollution. There are also more incentives for fleet managers to adopt these battery-powered vehicles, because in a growing amount of cases, electric vehicles can save companies money over using diesel power.
