Sysco is converting its Riverside, California, distribution center into the Riverside Electric Vehicle Hub, which will be the central hub for its electric fleet.

This is an effort to help reduce direct emissions by 27.5% and incorporate 2,800 electric trucks into its U.S. fleet by 2030.

“This year’s theme for Earth Day is ‘invest in our planet,’ and Sysco is doing just that,” said Neil Russell, Sysco’s chief administrative officer. "Our commitment is coming to life in Riverside as we break new ground on one of the first facilities of its kind in the world."

Accommodating a Growing Fleet’s Energy Needs

Currently, Sysco operates 11 Freightliner battery-electric eCascadia tractors at its Riverside facility and expects to deploy 20 total by this summer.

Once completed, the facility’s currently planned EV infrastructure will include 40 dual-port DC fast-charging stations in support of 40 electric Class-8 vehicles,and 40 electric refrigerated trailers.

To accommodate the energy demands of this growing fleet, the Riverside site will also feature 4 MWh of battery storage and will increase its solar power generation by an additional 1.5 MW.

Other efforts include:

• Sysco announced in May 2021 its intent to deploy nearly 800 battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 tractors by 2026.

• ConMet and ConMet eMobility are providing technology for the electrification of refrigerated trailers.

• InCharge Energy and ABB E-mobility are supplying and preparing to activate 40 Terra 124 DC fast chargers. Already tested for vehicle interoperability and reliability, these stations will facilitate quick and timely charging of all vehicles daily.

Riverside EV Hub Partnerships

Sysco's Riverside EV hub project is also supported through partnerships with:

• Black & Veatch — Engineer of record and system integrator providing comprehensive design, engineering, permitting, procurement, and construction management.

• Carrier — Supporting Sysco’s EV program with the Vector eCool refrigerated trailer system, which sustainably creates its own power using energy recovery and storage from ConMet to run the all-electric trailer refrigeration unit.

• GNA — Clean transportation consulting firm in North America, which spearheaded efforts to secure vehicle and infrastructure incentives for electric vehicles, infrastructure and chargers, the photovoltaic solar system, and battery storage system.

• Stem — Providing AI-driven clean energy management platform, Athena, a technology integrating the charging infrastructure, to optimize on-site energy assets including solar and energy storage and enabling resilience and efficiency.

• Vanguard — Supporting Sysco’s EV program with its thermal efficient multi-temp refrigerated trailer.

• W&B Service Company — Providing Carrier Transicold refrigeration equipment and support for Sysco’s EV initiatives.

• Bp pulse — Providing charge management software, omega, to optimize charging for low-cost energy while ensuring fleet uptime.

“This is a massive collaborative effort that has required years of planning," said Marie Robinson, Sysco’s chief supply chain officer. "We’re grateful to our many partners on this journey for their vision, innovation and leadership in bringing the transportation and infrastructure technology to market to support this project."

Community partners include California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, Southern California Association of Governments, and Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee.

Watch Now: Overcoming Challenges of Electrifying Transport Refrigeration