GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer, a retailer that operates one of the largest fleets in Michigan with 250 semitrucks and the first in North America to implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 near-zero emissions standards in 2009, is once again leading the retail industry by deploying two of the first all-electric semitrucks outside of California.

Based here in Grand Rapids, the retailer is also the first nationwide to track the performance of the Freightliner eCascadia semitrucks in a cold weather environment as part of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Our company’s earliest beginnings were marked by doing what’s right while keeping an eye toward innovation. That philosophy still guides us today and is exemplified by our company’s commitment to lessening our carbon footprint,” Meijer president and chief executive officer Rick Keyes said. “We’re excited to continue our long-standing partnership with Freightliner to pave a sustainable future for the industry.”

Meijer received the battery electric semitrucks in December 2022 and celebrated their inaugural delivery with a more than 44,000-pound food donation to Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit alongside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and representatives from Meijer and Daimler Truck North America (DTNA).

The two semis will operate out of the retailer’s Lansing Distribution Center, now equipped with specific charging infrastructure. They will make multiple deliveries daily to Meijer supercenters within a 200-mile trip range of the distribution center.

Meijer became a test fleet for Freightliner in 2009 and was selected in 2019 to test the manufacturer’s battery electric semitrucks. After a successful conclusion of testing and integration of customer feedback in the design and development process, Freightliner is now rolling out the series-produced battery electric truck to customers, including Meijer, which received the first delivery. The retailer’s trucks were partially funded by a grant to DTNA from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office geared toward the demonstration of battery electric commercial trucks under diverse climate conditions.