PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division will deploy five all-electric trucks in New York City this month as part of a green fleet expansion that will place 176 electric delivery vehicles on the road over the next year.

The trucks developed by Smith Electric Vehicles can travel 100 miles on a single charge. They produce no tailpipe emissions and emit 75 percent less greenhouse gas than diesel-powered trucks.

Six electric trucks are already on the job for Frito-Lay in Canada. By the end of the year, the company will have dispatched a total of 21 electric trucks. Some of the vehicles will be placed on routes in Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Worth, Texas. In 2011, another 155 trucks will hit the road.

By deploying the 176 trucks, Frito-Lay avoids the consumption of 500,000 gallons of fuel a year, said Mike O'Connell, director of fleet capability for Frito-Lay North America, in a statement last week announcing the impending rollout in New York. The launch is funded by a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Smith introduced the electric trucks to the public in July 2009 at the Capitol Reflecting Pool on the National Mall when Frito-Lay, Coca-Coca Enterprises, AT&T, Staples, Pacific Gas & Electric and Kansas City Power & Light each took delivery of a vehicle.

Frito-Lay operates the seventh largest privately owned commercial fleet in the U.S. The firm aims to become the most fuel-efficient fleet in the country and participates in government and industry efforts to ease the environmental impacts of trucking.

In March, a white paper from the Environmental Defense Fund and PHH Arval described how Frito-Lay saved 10 percent on fuel by downsizing its urban grocery store delivery truck model from a 24-foot Class 6 straight truck to a 20-foot Class 5.

In 2009, Frito-Lay added 1,200 fuel-efficient Sprinter delivery trucks to its fleet -- a move undertaken as part of the company's work to convert at least 10 percent of its fleet more eco-friendly vehicles.

Image courtesy of Smith Electric Vehicles and Frito-Lay North America.