Some may think of Mars as a candy company (your correspondent has a weakness for peanut M&Ms), but it’s a food industry giant that owns 50 global brands, and operates a large truck fleet.

Now the company has announced plans to put 300 heavy-duty electric trucks into operation in Europe by 2030, in partnership with Einride, a Swedish transport company specializing in electric and self-driving vehicles.

Mars has begun deploying electric trucks on routes in Germany, and plans to electrify routes in the UK and the Netherlands later this year.

Einride provided Mars with two Mercedes-Benz eActros 300s and two charging stations with four charging points operated by Einride’s Saga operating system. Mars is using the two e-trucks to haul pet food from its Pet Nutrition factory in Verden, Germany, to its logistics center in Mindin, a trip of about 91 kilometers one-way. Both locations are equipped with charging points, so an e-truck can easily do the full round trip with the option to charge at either end if needed.

Mars’s eActros 300 has three battery packs, with total capacity of 315 kWh, which should enable a range of about 300 km (186 miles) with an average load.

Robert Falck, CEO and founder at Einride, noted that for a company as large as Mars to electrify its fleet is a major step forward for electrification. “This sets a precedent for other players in the freight industry to follow, showcasing the mass potential of electrification at scale.”

Mars says the first two eActros 300s will soon be joined by more vehicles, but we don’t know if these will be from Daimler, as Einride sources its vehicles from several manufacturers.

Source: Mars