While most Class 8 electric trucks in California have been heading to the ports for drayage duty, Southern California Edison (SCE) and Peterbilt say utilities also make a good fit for the nation’s biggest on-road workhorses.
SCE, no stranger to battery-powered Class 8, recently acquired a Peterbilt 579EV that it will be using to haul heavy crane tooling.
“We may also use it in our material transport fleet moving materials from warehouse to local service centers in the L.A. Basin,” explained Paul Griffo, SCE’s senior advisor of corporate communications.
SCE also recently added 15 electric Ford Lightnings as part of an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet by 2030, which is expected to cut roughly 6,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
SCE’s decision to buy its first electric tractor from Peterbilt is a start to further Class 8 electrification for one of the nation's largest utilities, which serves 15 million customers from over 100 locations across 50,000 square miles.
“We plan to replace most of our two dozen or so diesel tractors with EVs in the coming years. Our heavy haul tractors will likely be the last of those units replaced,” said Griffo who added that the utility is “in negotiations with several manufacturers for several different types of EV trucks.”
