Orders for Kenworth Truck Co. medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric trucks have tripled in the past 90 days as fleets take advantage of incentives to offset the upfront cost and add zero-emission capacity ahead of coming sales quota regulations.

The electric versions of the Class 6 cabover K270 and conventional Class 8 T680 daycab and demonstration hydrogen-powered fuel cell T680 built with Toyota Motor Corp., were offered to the media for literal around-the-block rides and drives at the Paccar Innovation Center on Thursday.

About 30 Kenworth customers got the same PowerPoint presentation followed by in-vehicle experience on Wednesday.

‘Orders from every region in the country’
“We’ve quoted electric vehicles in 44 states,” Hank Johnson, Kenworth general sales manager for vocational and medium-duty trucks, told FreightWaves. “We’ve taken orders from every region of the country and most of Canada.”