Shippers Pool Buying Power to Accelerate US Electric Truck Uptake

A newly formed corporate coalition has placed an order for 2,500 Class 8 electric heavy-duty trucks — a volume large enough to nearly double the total number of such vehicles currently operating on US roads.

The initiative, called ZET SCALE, was launched by Catalyst Mobility and Smart Freight Centre. Among its first corporate shippers are Microsoft and PepsiCo. The coalition aggregates purchasing commitments from large companies to create competitive pressure on manufacturers and improve pricing — a model that resulted in Tesla winning the leading role, with Volvo, Kenworth, and RIDE each securing a portion of the order as well.

Beyond procurement, ZET SCALE targets two other barriers to fleet electrification. A dedicated ZET Lease program removes residual-value risk from carriers’ balance sheets, and the trucks will be deployed across 10 concentrated freight hubs in the United States to make the most of available charging infrastructure.

“You can have great technology and still not have a market,” said Michael Berube, CEO of Catalyst Mobility. The alliance aims to solve precisely that problem by consolidating fragmented corporate demand into a single buying pool.

The timing is notable: analysts expect total Tesla Semi deliveries to reach somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 units this year, underscoring how aggregated demand from shipper alliances could shape the near-term commercial EV landscape.

Source: Electrek