Mack to invest $14.5M in Roanoke to build electric MD line

The iconic Mack Trucks brand has been taking the medium duty market by storm, bringing big truck features and functionality to the segment like never before. The market has responded, and Mack is selling as many as they can make — so they’re going to start making more.

Mack Trucks has announced plans to add 72,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space to their existing Roanoke, VA, adding significant capacity for their hot-selling Mack MD models and making room for what Mack calls, “an emerging medium-duty electric truck line.”

Virginia Govornor Glenn Youngkin announced the company’s $14.5 million investment in the region during an event with state and local officials at RVO. Gov. Youngkin approved a $255,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for the project.

In the US, some of 40% of the medium duty buyers are lease and rental fleets, with nearly 75% of all the vehicles in the segment upfitted as box trucks with lift gates. Stephen Roy, global president of Mack Trucks, had other ideas for the MD, and the model has since excelled in segments where it wasn’t initially designed for — and a number of Mack MDs are on the road now as roll-offs, grapple hooks, dump trucks, tow trucks, haulers, and more.

“Mack is committed to making the industrial and product investments we need to be a North American market leader,” Roy said . “The expansion of the RVO plant will help us grow in a strategic market segment and support our sustainability goals.”

The Mack facility expansion project is expected to result in 51 new jobs, with Roanoke County offering a package of incentives totaling $842,420.

Electrek’s Take

Mack first showed its new electric MD models last year, highlighting their 240 kWh installed capacity SEA Electric battery packs and 80 kW DC fast-charging that enabled 20-80% charging in under an hour and an exemption from the typical 12% excise tax (among other incentives). All of which is to say: this electric deal is going to be a real Mack, and every major fleet in the industry is going to be keeping a close eye on it.

That’s only going to become more true as the “Mack-ification” of the MD market continues — something we talked about a few weeks ago on The Heavy Equipment Podcast. So check that out if you’re curious about the MD market as-a-whole, and let us know what you think of this big Mack news in the comments.