FedEx Corp. will expand its alternative-energy vehicle fleet by adding four purpose-built electric parcel delivery trucks, slated to hit the road in Los Angeles in June

. Worldwide, FedEx has more than 1,800 alternative-energy vehicles in service. According to FedEx, it will be the first company to introduce all-electric parcel delivery trucks.

Two of the new all-electric trucks will come from Navistar, and are being assembled in Indiana. These are based on the Modec design already operated by FedEx in Europe. Ten such Modec vehicles serve FedEx routes in London and five more are on order for Paris.

Another pair of electric vehicles is being purchased from a different manufacturer for delivery to the Los Angeles area later in 2010. Both sets of electric vehicles are designed with a range that allows many FedEx Express couriers to make a full eight-hour shift of deliveries before their vehicles need recharging.

A FedEx-branded prototype all-electric truck from Navistar was unveiled Monday at an event in Chicago to kick-off a demonstration tour of the technology. The vehicle will be operated for FedEx customers, employees, and local officials in several stops along historic Route 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Once in California, the Navistar electric truck will be demonstrated at the FORTUNE Brainstorm Green conference, an environmental leadership event scheduled April 12-14.

"Electric trucks are still in their infancy, but we think they have a bright future in the mix of alternative energy vehicles," said Mitch Jackson, vice president, environmental affairs and sustainability, FedEx Corp. "Down the road, we see the possibility of charging electric vehicle fleets with low- or zero-emission electricity generated on site by such innovations as solar electric arrays, like those at FedEx locations in California, New Jersey and Germany, or the Bloom Energy Server, another new technology we're helping to pioneer through evaluating it at our solar-powered hub in Oakland."

By the end of June, the FedEx alternative energy fleet will have grown to 1,869 vehicles in service around the world.

To track the vehicle's route on the "Charge Up Route 66" tour, visit http://www.fedex.com/electric.