Port of Long Beach shows off electric service fleet for Earth Week

Earth Week may be winding to a close, but with electric vehicles being de rigueur at the busy west coast Port of Long Beach, it should come as no surprise that they’ve got put their EV fleet front and center at municipal events all week long.

The Port of Long Beach has been leading the charge for electrification and clean air for years, becoming a hot bed of electric vehicle deployment from terminal tractors to semi trucks to material handlers. Along the way, the busy port has found itself at the center of a number of highly visible DC fast charging hubs and hydrogen fueling stations, as well – becoming a quiet, clear-skied example of what an America port could and should sound and smell like.

One of those projects is the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) in Long Beach, California has received a $34.9 million grant from the FHWA to replace 155 on-site commercial trucks and buses with zero-emission vehicles (ZEV). The grant will fund both the purchase of new electric trucks and the necessary charging infrastructure to support them.

To celebrate those achievements and further publicize the California port authority’s successful decarbonization efforts, the Port of Long Beach took to social media to highlight the variety of electric vehicles it employs.

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From the images shared (above), it looks like the Port of Long Beach fleet includes electric lawn mowers, street sweepers, parking enforcement vehicles, and the more expected work trucks and SUVs like the Chevy Silverado EVs, Ford E-Transit vans, and Acura ZDX. Which, hey – if they’re good enough for one of the hard-working port authorities in the country, these EVs might be good enough for your business.

Electrek’s Take

Back in 2018, Power Progress reported that the Port of Long Beach had plans to install zero-emissions cranes and cargo handling equipment at its terminals. True to its word, the port has invested more than $2.5 billion to convert its cranes and terminal tractors vehicles to electric equipment. Which is great, but is it news?

Not really – but the Port of Long Beach is a standard bearer in the electrification movement, having advanced the art of both battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell projects in recent years both by providing a ready market for manufacturers to sell into and by proving, beyond question, that EVs are up to any challenge the freight and logistics industries can throw at them … and do so quietly and cleanly, too.

As such, I think they deserve their victory lap. I’m just the guy who gets to give it to them.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Port of Long Beach.