Wawa, Penske partner to test battery-electric truck

© Wawa

Pa.-based Wawa, a convenience store and gas station chain, recently partnered with Penske Logistics to launch its first battery-electric truck.

The partners will operate a Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric truck as part of a 6-month pilot program to learn more about this emerging technology. They then will consider expanding delivery fleets and other future application.

This will be Penske’s first electric truck in the Philadelphia region.

“We are very pleased to support our longtime customer Wawa with their sustainability journey in their fresh channel supply chain,” Jeff Jackson, Penske Logistics executive vice president of operations, said. “We have depth and breadth of experience in this area.”

The company also recently opened its 150th store with Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations.

The company offers EV chargers with both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors through providers like EVgo, ChargePoint, and Electrify America, and offers more Tesla Superchargers than any other retail chain in North America.

In 2017, Wawa hosted its first EV charging station. It has since hosted more than 6 million charging sessions across its network.

Founded in 1803, Wawa opened its first Wawa Food Market in 1964 as an outlet for dairy products. It has stores in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.