When people think about electricity as a transportation fuel, they normally think about it in the context of moving people around by electric cars, trucks, mass transit and buses. However, there also is a growing interest in electricity as a more efficient and cost-effective transportation fuel for moving things, like shipping freight, last-mile delivery of goods and even powering seaports.
While it is true more consumers are buying personal electric vehicles (EVs) — an 81% increase from 2017 to 2018, according to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) — some utilities are pursuing projects to electrify transport in other ways. Green fleets could cut emissions while costing 30% less to operate than combustion engine vehicles, but they also might require investing in some power grid upgrades to get them working properly.