FedEx subsidiary FedEx Office announced it is piloting 10 Ford E-Transit vans across its FedEx SameDay City network as part of the company's goal to transition its entire pickup and delivery fleet to zero emission vehicles by 2040.
The Ford E-Transit electric delivery vans are being tested in nine markets coast-to-coast to assess their performance in different road and weather conditions. The regions where FedEx Office will test the E-Transit include Chandler (AZ), Newark (CA), Boca Raton, Clearwater, and Plantation (FL), Chicago (IL), Madison Heights (MI), Allen and Frisco (TX).
The company says it has installed charging stations dedicated to these vehicles at each van's home location and will supplement with remote charging stations in each market as needed along courier routes. FedEx Office says the Ford E-Transit's targeted range of 126 miles (202 kilometers) on a single charge makes it ideal for local courier delivery.
FedEx SameDay City is the company's local shipping option, which offers door-to-door delivery of time-sensitive parcels within hours with real-time notifications.
"FedEx SameDay City is a perfect use-case for testing the capabilities of the Ford E-Transit. With the vehicle's range and the availability of charging infrastructure, we are excited to see how this vehicle performs in our operation and helps us understand the path forward to scale an electrification strategy for FedEx Office."
Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office
FedEx has set a goal to achieve global carbon neutral operations by 2040, which includes transforming the entire FedEx parcel pickup and delivery fleet to all-electric, zero-tailpipe emissions vehicles by 2040. As part of this transition, FedEx Office is the first to test the Ford E-Transit for FedEx.
Needless to say, if the trial is successful, Ford Motor Company could land a big order for the E-Transit from FedEx, which has already ordered 2,500 electric vans from GM's BrightDrop. Major E-Transit orders announced so far came from Walmart (1,100 units) and Penske Truck Leasing (750) in the United States, as well as DPD (1,000) in Europe.
In February 2022, before the Penske order was announced, Ford said it had 10,000 orders for the E-Transit in North America from more than 300 businesses of all sizes. In the first seven months of this year, the automaker sold 3,534 E-Transit vans, including 526 units in July.
