Ryder Rental Truck Company Commits to 500 Electric Vans

author: Mia Bevacqua   

Cargo trucks typically provide dismal fuel economy. Ryder, the 85-year-old rental truck company, wants to offer its customers another alternative. Last week, it reserved 500 medium-duty electric panel vans built by Chanje Energy.

This move is part of Ryder's overall strategy to offer more electric vehicles. The rental company will be the exclusive sales and service partner for Chanje's line of medium-duty EV trucks, which will be part of the fleet's ChoiceLease and SelectCare programs.

"Ryder continues to see broadening interest in EVs from businesses of various sizes and industries, and especially from those companies in the parcel, final mile, or beverage delivery space. Additionally, there's interest from customers who have daily return to base routes of 40 to 100 miles and in markets with incentives available for electric vehicles," said Dennis Cooke, President, Global Fleet Management Solutions for Ryder.

Last summer, California-based EV company, Chanje, introduced its first vehicle. At the time, Ryder quickly snapped up 125 of the machines. Chanje has gone on to become a leading provider of large-scale EV fleets since.

"We are pleased to partner with Ryder to meet its customers' evolving performance, cost, and sustainability goals and collectively shape the future of the industry," said Bryan Hansel, founder & CEO of Chanje.

As for the trucks, they hold their own against their gas-powered counterparts. Each is designed from the ground as an EV that can haul up to 6,000 lbs. The cargo area isn't gobbled up by batteries either – the trucks offer 580 cubic feet of storage space.  Range is 100 miles on a single charge, which isn't bad for a large van.

That's all fine and dandy, but who's going to service these rigs when needed? Well, Ryder has set up maintenance and charging facilities for its EV trucks throughout California. Additional locations can be found in Chicago and New York.

If successful, the electric Ryder trucks could set a new standard for rental vehicles.

Source: Ryder

Mia Bevacqua

Mia is an ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician, L1, L2 and L3 Advanced Level Specialist. She has over 12 years of experience in the automotive industry and a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology. These skills have been applied toward content writing, technical writing, inspections, consulting, automotive software engineering.