More Than Half Of American Commercial Vehicles are Electrifiable Today

Electrifying vans and step vans in Canada and the US would save nearly
5 billion gallons of gasoline each year and avoid 43.5 million tons of
CO₂ emissions a year

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and RMI’s latest research shows that vans and step vans in the US and Canada are 100% electrifiable today. The report Electric Trucks Have Arrived: The Use Case for Vans and Step Vans released today calculates that electrification of vans and step vans would result in the avoidance of about 43.5 million tons of CO₂e annually, equivalent to removing nearly 5 billion gallons of gasoline from our economy per year. Vans and step vans, most easily recognizable as package delivery vehicles, constitute about half of all registered commercial vehicles in North America. Read the report.

In a volatile energy market, these findings are even more compelling. Shifting to electric package delivery vehicles is not only feasible and beneficial for climate action, but also will make a significant impact on decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. Electricity, especially in the context of other fuel types, is less volatile and less expensive than gasoline.

E-commerce is creating significant growth in the trucking sector this decade. The case for electrification includes cost analysis of the vehicles themselves, energy usage, maintenance and sustainability metrics. Moreover, NACFE’s market research and analysis also found that switching to electric commercial vehicles would have benefits for the health, safety and productivity of drivers.

While the electric transition for these vehicles will not be easy or happen overnight, vans provide the most compelling argument for immediate electrification. Companies that hesitate to electrify their van and step van fleets, or those who further invest in fossil fuel, risk stranded assets.

The report uses findings gathered from the real-world truck demonstration, Run on Less – Electric (RoL-E), conducted in September of 2021. It shares the methods used to select the participating fleets, routes, and equipment, the metrics that were measured, and details of the Run’s findings and lessons learned.

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