APM Terminals Elizabeth has ordered 96 electric terminal trucks from Orange EV, a move the companies say advances the New Jersey facility's broader push to electrify its diesel-powered fleet. The Husk-E XP units, built at Orange EV's Kansas City, Kansas production facility, will handle container movement across one of the busiest terminals on the East Coast.
The order was announced following a signing ceremony at APM Terminals' Port Elizabeth operation, according to ROI-NJ. APM Terminals Elizabeth handles roughly 28% of the Port of New York and New Jersey's total container throughput, managing more than 600 vessel calls and 800,000 truck visits a year, according to Splash247. The terminal's scale provides context for its equipment choices. That scale helps explain why the terminal's equipment choices carry outsized weight for regional freight movement, per the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A Truck Built for Heavy, Round-the-Clock Yard Work
Each Husk-E XP unit runs on a 310-kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate battery, the largest battery pack in Orange EV's lineup, and can move up to 180,000 pounds of combined weight. The trucks reach speeds up to 32 mph at maximum load and recharge in about two hours using 105+ kW CCS1 DC fast chargers, according to Orange EV. The Husk-E XP units also comply with Build America, Buy America Act requirements.
Orange EV manufactures electric terminal tractors and has more than 2,000 electric trucks in the market. The company says its installed fleet has now logged more than 33 million miles and 14 million hours of operation, averaging over 97% uptime. Orange EV CEO Kurt Neutgens said the Elizabeth order, along with a separate expansion at Pier 400, shows port operators moving past pilot and testing phases to standardize around the company's turnkey electric solution, per the same ROI-NJ report.
Part of a Bigger Terminal-Wide Overhaul
The truck order isn't happening in isolation. APM Terminals Elizabeth also ordered 34 electric rubber-tired gantry cranes from Konecranes in the second quarter of 2026, with deliveries through the end of 2028, bringing the terminal's zero-emission equipment overhaul to 130 units combined, according to Konecranes. The cranes are electric yard equipment.
APM Terminals says its procurement evaluations weigh total asset value over a truck's operating life rather than upfront unit cost alone, factoring in uptime, operating performance, field experience, parts availability and service response standards. APM Terminals has a goal of net-zero operations by 2040, according to APM Terminals.
Backed by a Long-Term Lease and Federal Grant Money
The equipment overhaul sits inside a larger $200 million modernization plan anchored by a 33-year lease extension that Maersk and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey proposed in April 2025, subject to a Port Authority board vote, which would keep APM Terminals Elizabeth at the port through December 2062. That lease would replace one that had been set to expire in 2029, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Federal money is also in the mix. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $344.1 million to the Port Authority in October 2024 under the Clean Ports Program, funding electric cargo handling equipment, drayage trucks and charging infrastructure as part of a $3 billion nationwide clean ports initiative, per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Other East Coast and West Coast Fleets Follow Suit
The Elizabeth order isn't the only sign that port operators are scaling up electric yard trucks rather than just testing them. Orange EV also received a 24-truck order from Greenwich Terminals, which operates the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia and is moving toward an all-electric yard operation as part of a modernization plan that includes permanently retiring 10 older diesel trucks.
On the West Coast, APM Terminals Los Angeles expanded its battery-electric terminal tractor fleet at Pier 400 from 20 to 60 Orange EV units in June, completing full electrification of its on-dock rail drayage operations after a yearlong 20-truck rental pilot, according to a report carried by PR Newswire. Per Orange EV, the Elizabeth and Greenwich Terminals orders together reflect a broader industry shift from testing electric terminal trucks to adopting them at scale, and the company describes the Elizabeth order as one of its largest port electrification commitments to date.
Regulatory Backdrop Remains Unsettled
The push toward electric trucks is taking place in New Jersey.
Regardless of how that regulatory fight resolves, the Port of New York and New Jersey remains a significant container port, handling substantial container traffic. With orders for 96 new electric trucks and 34 electric cranes for Elizabeth, the terminal is betting that its equipment upgrades will keep pace with its own emissions targets.
