Two eCascadia semi-trucks manufactured by the Freightliner subsidiary of Daimler Truck, North America, have been added to the company fleet of 250 semi-trucks. The evaluation of these electric vehicles is in progress with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.  The two vehicles will be evaluated under cold environmental conditions, operating out of the Lansing Distribution Center that has been equipped with chargers.  The semi-trucks will deliver to Meijer Supercenters within a 200-mile trip range of the D.C.

Trucks have a battery capacity of 440 kWh and can recharge to 80 percent in approximately 90 minutes. Meijer has been working with Freightliner since 2009 to improve operation of vehicles consistent with the Freightliner/Daimler policy of integrating customer feedback into design and development.

Mike Graham, Senior Vice-President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing for Meijer, stated, “We are pleased to work with Freightliner to further put the eCascadia tractors into real-world application outside of southern California as we look for solutions to achieve zero emissions”. Meijer is the first nationwide food retailer to implement the Environmental Protection Agency 2010 near-zero emission standards.