BYD, a manufacturer of electric vehicles, announced that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the vast regional transportation infrastructure in the New York City area, will demo a battery-electric BYD Class 8 yard truck for the next several weeks.

Coming immediately after Earth Day, this announcement is part of the Port Authority’s ongoing efforts to create a more sustainable infrastructure system. The truck has a 10+ hour operating range on a single charge, and is a 1-1 replacement for the diesel yard trucks that currently operate at the port authority’s Red Hook facility in Brooklyn.  

“New York and New Jersey have always been home to innovation, and we’re glad to see them embracing electric trucks as reliable replacements for dirty industrial diesel vehicles,” said Stella Li, President of BYD America. “We look forward to seeing the results of this demo, and many more zero-emission light- and heavy-duty trucks in New York and New Jersey.”

The yard trucks are also known as utility tractor rigs, yard tractors, yard spotters, yard hostlers, yard mules, or yard goats, and are the most commonly-used, heavy duty vehicles for cargo handling in the freight industry. Conventional yard trucks are powered by diesel engines that operate 24/7/365 at ports, rail yards, and warehouses that are located within or adjacent to residential areas. The battery-electric yard truck in this demonstration project is 100% zero-emission and will provide meaningful emissions reductions that will benefit both public health and climate change.