PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division is adding 20 electric vehicles to its fleet in upstate New York, along with 20 innovative and enhanced electric vehicle charging stations.            

Once the new all-electric trucks are deployed, New York will be home to 35 Frito-Lay all-electric trucks, the company's second largest deployment in any state.

Additionally, the new highly automated charging stations will help optimize the future of electric vehicles. Frito-Lay is the first commercial test subject for these charging stations, which will not only improve how the Frito-Lay fleet is used, but also relay important information to the state for a better understanding of electric fleets.

The new all-electric trucks will operate from distribution centers located throughout New York, including in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and New Paltz. These distribution centers will also have the advanced charging stations.

To support the introduction of charging stations, Frito-Lay received funding through Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Charge N.Y. initiative, which seeks to grow electric vehicle use in the state by helping to create a statewide charging station infrastructure.

Since their introduction in 2010, the initial 15 all-electric trucks in New York have already eliminated the need for an estimated 27,000 gallons of fuel and 449,550 pounds of greenhouse gases. When all 35 trucks are deployed by the end of this year, Frito-Lay expects to eliminate 63,000 gallons of fuel and nearly 1,048,950 pounds of greenhouse gases annually in the state of New York.

Electric trucks reduce fuel consumption, noise pollution and CO₂ emissions, compared to traditional delivery trucks. By the end of this year, Frito-Lay will have 269 electric trucks deployed in the U.S., making Frito-Lay the largest commercial fleet of all-electric trucks in the country. In August, Frito-Lay reached a milestone of three million all-electric miles driven.

Once all 269 electric trucks are fully deployed across the U.S., Frito-Lay expects to eliminate the need for an estimated 600,000 gallons of fuel annually.