Frito-Lay Adds 100 Electric, 67 CNG Trucks to Its Fleet

Frito-Lay is adding 100 new electric trucks to its delivery fleet, bringing its total fleet of electric trucks to more than 280 vehicles.

The electric trucks, designed by Smith Electric Vehicles, generate zero tailpipe emissions and operate for up to 100 miles on a single charge.

The new trucks join an existing electric fleet that charged its way to a million miles this month. Frito-Lay uses the all-electric delivery trucks on urban routes with fewer daily miles.

Over the past two years, 176 Smith Electric Vehicles trucks have been added to the Frito-Lay commercial delivery truck fleet. To date, these trucks have eliminated the need for about 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

With electric trucks fully deployed on routes, Frito-Lay North America expects to reduce fuel consumption by 500,000 gallons a year.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks will be introduced this spring, and will be used to haul large loads. Each CNG vehicle, purchased from Freightliner, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent compared to diesel. With 67 CNG vehicles planned to be on route by the end of the year, Frito-Lay will eliminate the need for more than 900,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually. Depending on fuel tank size, the CNG trucks can range 300 to 740 miles.

The CNG vehicles will be used at seven Frito-Lay North America distribution centers: Rancho Cucamonga, California; Irving, Texas; Phoenix and Casa Grande, Arizona; Beloit, Wisconsin; Frankfort, Indiana and Charlotte, North Carolina. The company piloted 18 CNG vehicles to prepare for the roll out.

Frito-Lay, which operates more than 20,000 vehicles in one of the largest U.S. private fleets, plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2020.

The battery-powered electric trucks are zero-emission vehicles. The CNG trucks will emit 23 percent fewer greenhouse gasses than diesel trucks, Frito-Lay said.