AmeriPride Adds All-Electric Vans to its Fleet

After initially replacing 20% of its Vernon, CA, fleet with electric delivery trucks, AmeriPride Services Inc., Minnetonka, MN, plans to add 20 additional walk-in vans equipped with the Motiv Power Systems all-electric powertrain to the company’s California fleet. Supported in part through a multimillion dollar grant from the California Air Resources Board, the new order of 20 trucks will be deployed in the San Joaquin Valley cities of Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced and Stockton.

“Continuing to reduce the carbon footprint of our delivery trucks further demonstrates AmeriPride's commitment to the environment and communities we serve,” said Bill Evans, president and CEO of AmeriPride. “We’re proud to be an industry leader in environmental sustainability and will continue to implement green technologies that help enhance our clean operations, especially in areas where there is an identified need for air quality improvements.”

Utilizing Roush Industries’ assembly services to manufacture AmeriPride’s 20 walk-in vans, Motiv was able to use line assemblers, rather than engineers, to build the vehicles. Roush uses a total systems approach to designing and managing the entire work flow of information, materials and services, from raw materials suppliers, through factories and warehouses, to the end customers. The company has over 35 years of experience building a responsive, agile and effective supply chain that supports a diverse product base.

“Thanks to Roush Industries’ assembly line, we’re able to improve the production of work trucks powered by Motiv’s All-Electric Powertrain, improving the pricing for these trucks due to economies of scale,” said Motiv CEO Jim Castelaz. “More reliable, affordable all-electric work trucks are coming, and we look forward to bringing them to our customers at a much more efficient pace and price.”

Late last year, Motiv initially provided AmeriPride’s Vernon branch with 10 zero-emission step vans. The delivery vehicles feature up to 20% gradeability, 80 miles of range and a 50% battery charge time of 2.5 hours. Like other Motiv-powered vehicles, the AmeriPride walk-in vans are built on a Ford F59 Chassis.