The company’s 176 Newton electric trucks, built by Smith Electric Vehicles, logged a million miles this month.

Great news from Frito-Lay! Eating your favorite crunchy snacks is good for the environment and US energy independence (don’t worry about the fat, the salt, the plastic bags…). The company’s 176 Newton electric trucks, built by Smith Electric Vehicles, logged a million miles this month. Frito-Lay plans to buy 100 more of Smith’s EVs in 2012.

Frito-Lay’s parent, PepsiCo, operates the seventh-largest privately owned vehicle fleet in the US – over 20,000 trucks – and the company has set a goal to reduce greenhouse gases and fuel consumption by 50 percent by 2020. It is evaluating several types of low-emission vehicles for different needs. The Smith EVs are delivery trucks used on urban routes with fewer daily miles. This spring, the company plans to introduce tractors powered by compressed natural gas (CNG), for hauling large loads.

“The first million miles with the electric trucks have been a journey of understanding and refining both how and where we use these vehicles, as well as providing input to help improve upon the performance for the next generation vehicle,” said Frito-Lay’s Mike O’Connell. “We are now in position to more quickly accelerate our strategy and grow the electric vehicle fleet.”

Source: Frito-Lay