A new report found that the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEV) for commercial fleets in the U.S. surged in 2023, as companies have begun to plan for larger investments down the road. 

The report comes from TRC Company alongside Penske Transportation Systems, Volvo Trucks North America, and Chevron, surveying 200 fleet stakeholders across schools, shuttles, states, delivery, waste management, utility, and long-haul among other sectors. Combined among those fleets, over 26,000 BEV buses, trucks and vans were delivered in 2023, twice the number seen in the previous year. Of that total, commercial cargo vans and pickup trucks made up 90% of all BEV deliveries, 95% of which came from Ford and Rivian. 

Although BEVs made up between 1-2% of all fleet vehicles for early adopters, 90% said that they expect to increase that number in the years to come. This is in the wake of a $7 billion investment from the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2023 to fund seven hydrogen fuel production and distribution hubs.

Separate data from telematics company Geotab also tracked an 81% increase in EV adoption among U.S. commercial fleets between 2022 and 2023. Sizable investments have continued into 2024, after Amazon announced in May that it would be using 50 electric trucks to haul freight in Southern California. The Port of Oakland also launched a project of its own in that same month to use hydrogen-powered trucks to haul freight across Northern California.