How do we know EVs are here to stay? Electric terminal brand Orange EV just announced a new, record single order that includes 600 new electric Class 8 trucks, proving that there’s a genuine market for HDEVs even without Federal incentives.
If it makes cents, it makes sense, and as we enter the fourth month of war in Iran and a closed Strait of Hormuz continues to drive up oil and fuel costs, more and more heavy fleets are taking a fresh look at EVs – and the math seems to be mathing, with new Orange EV leases growing 272% over the past 12 months alone.
“We have left the early adopter stage of yard electrification,” explains Kurt Neutgens, co-founder and president of Orange EV. “We’re seeing companies invest in hundreds of trucks because total cost of ownership superiority has been proven, including uptime, reliability, fuel savings, and service guarantees.”
Uptime is what’s up
Since deploying its first-ever electric terminal truck with DHL in 2015, Orange EV has delivered more than 1,900 Class 8 electric semi trucks and logged more than 33.8 million operational miles and over 10 million on-hours with minimal downtime and representing a substantial fuel savings to Orange EV’s customers.
“Over the course of 10 years,” adds Neutgens, “our tractors can save half a million dollars in total cost of ownership over a diesel, without factoring in any available incentives.”
The company’s official press release didn’t name the customer, but they did say that construction has already started on units for the 600-truck order, with full delivery and deployment of those trucks expected in 2026. The company also noted that the record-setting order included uptime guarantees, extended warranties supported by its service model, and additional EV charging infrastructure.
Feel free to take a guess at who the big spenders are in the comments.
Electrek’s Take
We had a chance to talk to Orange EV founder Kurt Neutgens ahead of last year’s ACT Expo for clean trucking. On the show (available here), Kurt explained how his experience at Ford helped inform his design ideology, and that the Orange EV was designed to be cost competitive with diesel options, even without subsidies.
Give it a listen, then let us know whether you think the big yard dogs’ success will help debunk the “messy middle” myths or not, in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Orange EV.
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