GE Appliances (GEA), a Haier company, is deploying a fleet of electric freight vehicles on routes between the company’s inbound warehouses and its manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee. The move will increase efficiency, reliability and lower the cost of moving manufacturing materials and components in a critical segment of the company’s supply chain.

It will also provide data for the company to assess the environmental benefits of electric vehicles (EV) to achieving its operation’s sustainability goals. This is the implementation phase of an agreement between GEA and Einride, a leader in providing electric and autonomous shipping solutions. (Earlier post.)

We’ve adopted many environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations. As we invest and expand our US manufacturing to better serve our customers, we will deploy Einride’s EV technology on routes we frequently use to move materials. That’s where use of these vehicles can have a big impact on reducing emissions and costs.

—Harry Chase, senior director for central materials, GE Appliances

The electric trucks are being driven on routes between facilities operated by the Port of Savannah, and GEA’s inbound warehousing and logistics centers, manufacturing sites, and finished-goods warehouses. The trucks have a range of 200 miles per charge and will cover an estimated 125,000 miles annually – eliminating 210 tons of CO₂ emissions within the first year.

The EVs are being used in the following priority locations:

• Georgia: Trucks are routed between the Port of Savannah’s Appalachian Regional Port, GEA’s nearby Southern Logistics Center in Crandall, and Roper Corporation, GEA’s cooking products manufacturing subsidiary in LaFayette.

• Kentucky: Trucks travel from the company’s Kentucky Logistics Center to GEA’s massive Appliance Park campus, carrying parts that make GE, GE Profile, and Café refrigerators.

• Tennessee: Starting next month, the focus will be moving finished Monogram refrigerators from the manufacturing facility to the warehouse to await shipping to customers.