Mullen Automotive Inc., an electric vehicle manufacturer, has closed a 60-day commercial EV pilot program for Class 1 electric cargo vans with Menzies Aviation and Loop Global Inc. at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Menzies operates in 250-plus airports in 58 countries, providing ground, air cargo and fuel services to commercial airports and airlines.
Two Class 1 electric vans were piloted at LAX airport and powered with Loop-installed Level 2 chargers. Vans were utilized for transporting both equipment and crews throughout the pilot program.
Over 1,500 miles were driven over the course of the pilot at LAX. The pilot saw consistent performance, with 100% uptime and zero maintenance issues. After reviewing the pilot’s result, there is an estimated cost savings of 66% in electrical versus gas-equivalent vehicles, and an estimated 83% reduction in CO2 emissions for electric vans compared to the gas-vehicle equivalent.
Based on driver feedback, Menzies has requested van modifications to include increased seating capacity and additional windows for enhanced driver visibility.
During the pilot, Loop provided EV charging infrastructure and fleet operations software to service the Mullen electric vans through its electric vehicle fleet-as-a-service program. With the Loop cloud-based charger management system, Menzies was able to charge Mullen’s electric vehicles between each shift to keep them powered for daily operations across LAX.
“The LAX pilot was very important in quantifying the efficiency, uptime and cost savings that can be achieved with our Class 1 EV vans. Successful pilots such as this demonstrate how companies can scale their fleet operations with commercial EV offerings from Mullen,” says David Michery, CEO and chairman of Mullen Automotive.