• Exclusive Content
  • Events
  • Endeavor Business Media Energy
    1. e-Mobility

    GE Appliances adding Electric Freight Vehicles for facilities in three states

    July 11, 2022
    The trucks will run between warehouses and manufacturing facilities and are expected to help reduce CO2 emissions by 210 tons in the first year of operation
    Image credit Linneakornehead, Wikimedia Creative Commons
    Einride Pod 62cc3aec60d35

    Home appliances maker GE Appliances is using electric freight vehicles on routes between its warehouses and manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, as part of the implementation phase of its agreement with Einride.

    The use of these vehicles is expected to improve efficiency, reliability and lower transport costs, says the firm. It will also provide data to evaluate the environmental benefits of EV adoption and its contribution to achieving its sustainability goals.

    “We’ve adopted many environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations,” said Harry Chase, senior director for central materials, GE Appliances. “As we invest and expand our U.S. manufacturing to better serve our customers, we will deploy Einride’s EV technology on routes we frequently use to move materials. That’s where use of these vehicles can have a big impact on reducing emissions and costs.”

    The EV trucks will be used on the following routes:

    ·        Between Georgia Port Authority’s Appalachian Regional Port, GEA’s nearby Southern Logistics Center in Crandall, and Roper Corporation

    ·         Between the Kentucky Logistics Center to GEA’s massive Appliance Park campus

    ·         Between the manufacturing facility in Tennessee to the warehouse, starting August 2022

     The trucks have a range of 200 miles on a single charge and can cover an estimated 125,000 miles annually. These trucks can eliminate 210 tons of CO2 emissions in the first year of operations.

    Using EV trucks brings GEA closer to accomplishing its Citizenship goals according to Shannon Fitzpatrick, senior sustainability manager at GE Appliances. “GEA is a member of the U.N. Global Compact. Integrating EV trucks into our domestic supply chain is another ambitious step to run our operations in more sustainable ways and reduce the carbon footprint of our supply chain.”

    Image credit Linneakornehead, Wikimedia Creative Commons
    Einride Pod

    Einride is a Swedish-based transport company focused on electric and autonomous vehicles. Founded six years ago, Einride has developed commercial relationships with companies such as DB Schenker and cargo firm Maersk.

    Last month, it received approval by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to operates self-driving electriv vehicles on public roads. 

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.