Delta Airlines is Using an Electric International eMV

You may be familiar with the buzz around electric planes. They’re fascinating, but it’s still years before you’ll be flying on an electric aircraft. Delta knows this too, so it started its fleet electrification journey with a truck.

Next time you’re flying out of Boston Logan International Airport, your in-flight meal might be delivered to the aircraft galley by an International eMV. Working with International Motors and airport vehicle upfitter Mallaghan, Delta’s fully electric catering truck started operating in January. It’s an industry first.

Airport ground operations are well-suited for electrification, due to the need for low-speed movements and long idling periods, which is pretty tough on diesel engines but nonexistent in EVs. Delta has been building its ground support sustainability initiative for several years. However, its focus has been on smaller equipment than the medium-duty eMV.

The smaller equipment includes baggage tractors, belt loaders, and push-back tractors. They’ve been commercially available and operationally viable for airport ground support for a while. Delta was looking for chassis manufacturers and OEMs who could bring the same benefits in a midsize or large truck, able to support three shifts at a large station.

International and Mallaghan were up for the challenge. The companies worked with Delta for two years to assess route data, range analysis, charging, and dispatch strategies and found this segment to make sense for EVs. Unlike some duty cycles driving hundreds of daily miles with a heavy payload that negatively impact electric efficiency, airport ground support is a series of short drive cycles and long waiting periods for airplanes to come in. It’s a great application of EV technology in its current state of maturity.

But that doesn’t mean it was an easy path to building North America’s first electric airline catering truck. Along with mapping out routing and energy capacity, the engineers had to integrate refrigeration on the truck and overcome significant challenges of its additional weight and energy needs.

Delta introduced the new truck to its ground crew and faced initial skepticism. Like with any operations team, there was a transition period to accepting the new way of doing things. International and Mallaghan helped Delta train its ground support staff on the eMV, including making the truck’s controls similar to the diesel-powered trucks they were used to and alleviating any range fears.

International recognized that the EV fleet procurement journey is unique. Unlike traditional trucks, where dealers can simply hand over keys to a fleet without knowing their specific operation details, now they have to ask questions about power needs and energy draw. And sometimes the upfitters and customers can’t initially answer these questions because they don’t know themselves. While diesel distance calculations are easier to understand, EV customers and OEMs are finding more success if they take the time early on to calculate range and load capabilities. Success comes when the OEM has a deep understanding of the customer’s operation, pain points, and factors that make their operations more efficient.

This is only the beginning of electrifying airport operations. Keep your eyes open for more airport catering trucks idling on the tarmac with no diesel exhaust coming out the back.