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Penske adds high-powered electric yard trucks from Orange EV to fleet offering

Credit: Orange EV

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Penske Truck Leasing announced today it would add a series of Orange EV electric terminal trucks to its fleet of leasable electric vehicles in the United States. Orange EV manufactures powerful terminal trucks suitable for trailer-handling operations in truck yards, warehousing and distribution centers, container terminals, and related operations where short-distance moves are required.

Penske teamed up with Orange EV to expand its electrified and sustainable vehicle offerings. The company wanted more electric options for various commercial activities, as it recently added a fleet of E-Transit vans from Ford to its fleet.

“As we continue furthering our relationship with Orange EV and after spending significant time understanding this equipment’s capabilities, we are very pleased to make it a new product offering for our sales force in the U.S,” Penske Truck Leasing Senior VP of Procurement and Fleet Planning, Paul Rosa, said. “We currently have several customers placing orders for these units and taking delivery of their equipment.”

Orange EV’s trucks combine high-powered vehicles suitable for heavy equipment lifting and other short-distance, high-energy usage tasks with sustainable vehicle features. The trucks offer zero tailpipe emissions with regenerative braking that offers a 50 percent shorter stopping distance. Additionally, the vehicles can operate up to 24 hours on a single charge, and have a digital cab architecture for a modern feel and remote diagnostic capabilities for easier maintenance.

“Orange EV recognizes Penske’s leadership and is proud to help further their sustainability initiatives,” Orange EV CEO Wayne Mathisen said. “Together we’re helping Penske customers unlock the many benefits of electric by introducing more reliable, cost-effective, zero-emission trucks into their operations.”

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Penske plans to display the Orange EV electric terminal truck, along with other EVs, at its booth at the 2022 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, California.

Orange EV said on its website that electric yard trucks are heavily advantageous for many reasons:

“While over-the-road heavy-duty electric trucks are still being developed, pure electric yard trucks are already ramped up and providing well-established benefits: they’re more comfortable to drive than their diesel counterparts, have lower operating costs, and produce zero emissions. And hard data from these deployments prove that electric yard trucks can pencil out in short order, even without incentives.”

The company said it has over 400 trucks deployed across the United States in harsh climates, 24 x 7 operations, and all sectors of goods movement. “Given their compelling benefits and lower total cost of ownership, electric yard trucks are well on their way to becoming the industry standard. The time to switch is now,” the company said.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla offers interesting promo to future ride-hailing rival’s drivers

Lyft drivers will get $1,000 in vehicle credits if they complete 100 rides by the cutoff date for the promo.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has offered an interesting promotion for its vehicles to the drivers of one of its future ride-hailing rivals as it continues to work toward the launch of its autonomous Robotaxi platform.

This morning, Tesla launched a $1,000 off promotion to Lyft drivers who plan to utilize one of the company’s EVs for ride-hailing purposes. The promo applies to all five Tesla models: the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck.

It is not offered at the point of sale. Instead, to ensure the vehicle is properly utilized for ride-hailing purposes and to prove the discount, Tesla will offer $1,000 in vehicle credits to the Lyft driver after they complete 100 trips on or before July 13, 2025. Delivery must be taken by June 30.

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It is an interesting move by Tesla because Lyft, along with Uber, will become a rival in the coming years as the companies continue to develop driverless ride-hailing platforms of their own. Lyft has partnered with May Mobility and Mobileye to develop driverless, fully autonomous vehicles purpose-built for ride-hailing.

Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi platform next month in Austin, Texas.

Tesla hints at June 1 launch of Robotaxi platform in Austin

Meanwhile, Lyft’s plans are more down the road. Earlier this year, the company said it would launch autonomous rides sometime next year.

For now, the move seems to be just another way Tesla is incentivizing consumers to buy one of their vehicles. Earlier this week, it also launched another $1,000 off promo for teachers, students, retirees, active-duty members, their spouses, and surviving spouses.

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Previously, Tesla only offered that discount to military members.

It is unclear why Tesla would be offering these discounts, but it could be more of a thank you or an act of recognition, more than anything. If it were a measure that was taken to increase demand, it would be substantially more of a discount. For example, when Tesla was trying to rid its inventory of legacy Model Y units as the new, updated vehicle was set to be released, discounts were over $5,000.

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Tesla Giga Berlin seems to be using FSD Unsupervised to move Model Y units

Tesla may be doing something quite special in the Giga Berlin-Brandenburg complex.

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Tesla FSD Unsupervised Giga Texas

Tesla may be doing something quite special in the Giga Berlin-Brandenburg complex. Based on observations from a recent drone flyover of the site, it appears that Tesla may also be using FSD Unsupervised to move freshly produced Model Y vehicles to the factory’s staging area.

New Drone Footage

Recent footage of the Giga Berlin complex from longtime Tesla watcher Tobias Lindh included several interesting updates around the Model Y factory. These include a new warehouse that is currently being built, as well as a tunnel is currently being constructed. More interestingly, the drone operator observed that some cars now seem to be moving to Giga Berlin’s distribution area without human drivers.

If the drone operator’s observations prove accurate, it would be quite an impressive accomplishment for Tesla. FSD Unsupervised, after all, has only been confirmed in vehicles that are produced at the Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas.

https://twitter.com/NicklasNilsso14/status/1922799362511376892

Potential Next Steps

If Giga Berlin is now using FSD Unsupervised to transport some Model Y units from the factory building to the site’s staging area, it might only be a matter of time before Tesla also implements a similar system for Gigafactory Shanghai. The Shanghai-based Tesla plant, after all, is the company’s largest factory by volume, and it also serves as a primary vehicle export hub. FSD Unsupervised could then pave the way for Giga Shanghai to operate in an even more optimal manner. 

FSD Unsupervised is the cornerstone of Tesla’s robotaxi business, which is expected to start rolling out in Austin, Texas, next month. Previous reports have suggested that Tesla is pushing hard in its preparations to roll out its robotaxi service this June. Tesla has reportedly even worked and trained with Austin’s first responders from the fire and police departments as part of its robotaxi service preparations.

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Check out a recent flyover of the Tesla Giga Berlin complex in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9RFgOiFiU0
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Investor's Corner

Tesla welcomes Chipotle President Jack Hartung to its Board of Directors

Tesla announced the addition of its new director in a post on social media platform X.

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Credit: @ArthurFromX/X

Tesla has welcomed Chipotle president Jack Hartung to its Board of Directors. Hartung will officially start his tenure at the electric vehicle maker on June 1, 2025.

Tesla announced the addition of its new director in a post on social media platform X.

Jack Hartung’s Role

With Hartung’s addition, the Tesla Board will now have nine members. It’s been a while since the company added a new director. Prior to Hartung, the last addition to the Tesla Board was Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia back in 2022. As noted in a Reuters report, Hartung will serve on the Tesla Board’s audit committee. He will also retire from his position as president and chief strategy officer at Chipotle, and transition into a senior advisor’s role at the restaurant chain, next month.

Hartung has had a long career in the Mexican grill, joining Chipotle in 2002. He held several positions in the company, most recently serving as Chipotle’s President and Chief Strategy Officer. Tesla highlighted Hartung’s accomplishments in a post on its official account on X.

“Over the past 20+ years under Jack’s financial leadership, Chipotle has seen significant growth with over 3,700 restaurants today across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Jack was named ‘CFO of the Year’ by Orange County Business Journal and Best CFO in the restaurant category by Institutional Investor,” Tesla wrote in its post on X.

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Tesla Board and Musk

Tesla is a controversial company with a controversial CEO, so it is no surprise that the Board of Directors tend to get flak as well. Two weeks ago, for example, Tesla Board Chair Robyn Denholm slammed The Wall Street Journal for publishing an article alleging that company directors had considered a search for a potential successor to Elon Musk. Denholm herself has also been criticized for offloading her TSLA shares.

More recently, news emerged suggesting that the Tesla Board of Directors had formed a special committee aimed at exploring a new pay package for CEO Elon Musk. The committee is reportedly comprised of Tesla board Chair Robyn Denholm and independent director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, and they would be exploring alternative compensation methods for Musk’s contributions to the company.

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