New York City’s largest food rescue organization is helping Bronx residents breathe a little bit easier with the recent acquisition and upcoming deployment of three brand-new, zero emission Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks.
UPDATE 17SEP2026: Now, you can ride along!
Truck enthusiasts and curious fleet managers are being invited to Join City Harvest, Volvo Trucks North America, and the Bronx is Breathing at the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative on Thursday, September 24th for an exclusive Ride Along event featuring the zero-emission Volvo VNR Electric truck we covered back in February. It’s a great chance to experience a fully electric semi truck firsthand, and hear directly from the driver what it’s like to get behind the wheel of the future of freight.
Click through the invitation, below, to sign up. If you do end up making it aboard, head on down to the comments and let us know what you thought!
Ride along
The electric semi trucks were purchased last week by City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organization, and are set to be equipped with battery-electric transport refrigeration units, enabling true zero-tailpipe emissions during food rescue and delivery operations across all five New York City boroughs as part of the Bronx is Breathing initiative.
“City Harvest rescues and delivers millions of pounds of food to New Yorkers every year. We are proud that these new electric trucks will support that crucial mission with cleaner, quieter operations,” explains Keith Brandis, Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs, North America, Volvo Group’s Trucks Technology & Industrial Division. “The Bronx is Breathing initiative shows how targeted infrastructure investment and community partnerships can accelerate the adoption of electric trucks in dense urban freight environments.”
In addition to reducing tailpipe emissions, each of the three popular Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks deployed by the food rescue group will be equipped with battery-electric transport refrigeration units, enabling true zero-tailpipe emissions during food rescue and delivery operations across all five New York City boroughs.
The purchase of the new HDEVs was supported by a $10 million award from the New York Clean Transportation Prizes program, an initiative designed to reduce noise and air pollution in South Bronx neighborhoods, which border one of the nation’s busiest freight corridors.
City Harvest’s trucks are part of a broader, eight-vehicle Volvo Group deployment being funded through the New York Clean Transportation Prizes program, which is intended to support food distribution, waste operations, and local food deliveries of more than 250,000 lbs. throughout New York every day. Their work is made possible through the efforts of grocers, farms, manufacturers, and local restaurants who are combating food waste and delivering excesses to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community programs.
Good work
As far as the trucks themselves go, the Volvo VNR Electric in City Harvest’s daycab configuration features a 565 kWh battery pack that sends juice to a 340 kW (~450 hp) electric motor putting more than 4,000 lb-ft of torque to the ground for hassle-free hauling up to ~82,000 lbs. of combined vehicle weight up to 275 miles away from its starting point on a single charge.
Top comment by AutoMotive
Exciting news for NY. Articles on expanding ev transportation in the US is good news that private and local investments work for the immunities. The best news is Volvo leading the way. See below on a fact about this exciting addition to its expected lifespan.
Total Vehicle Longevity: While battery-electric truck longevity is still being proven in real-world scenarios, conventional Volvo trucks are built to last over 1,000,000 miles or 20 years with proper maintenance. The VNR Electric is designed for similar heavy-duty, daily, regional, or local service. Batteries should last 6 to 10 years with minimal maintenance vs ice. Time will tell on new models and cost effectiveness should be significant. Keep these great pieces for future transportation coming.
And speaking of charging, that responsibility will be handled by a freight-focused public charging hub being developed by MN8 Energy in the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, which will feature 32 DC fast chargers, including stalls for heavy-duty Class 8 trucks plus 10 Level-2 chargers, when it becomes operational in 2029.
SOURCE | IMAGES: City Harvest, Volvo Trucks.
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