Volvo Trucks North America will supply three battery-electric Volvo VNR trucks to City Harvest in 2026 under the Bronx is Breathing initiative, a project aimed at cutting emissions and noise in one of North America’s busiest urban freight corridors.
The deployment is backed by a $10 million award from the New York Clean Transportation Prizes programme. The initiative combines electric trucks with new charging infrastructure to reduce the environmental impact of freight and delivery operations in the South Bronx.
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City Harvest, New York City’s largest food rescue organisation, will use the zero-tailpipe-emission trucks to collect and distribute rescued food across all five boroughs. The vehicles will be equipped with battery-electric transport refrigeration units, allowing fully electric operation during both driving and refrigerated loading and unloading, according to the project partners.
Initial charging will take place at a new installation at the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, specifically at the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative. At a later stage, the trucks are expected to access a public, freight-focused charging hub being developed at the same site by MN8 Energy. The planned hub is expected to include 32 DC fast chargers, including bays suitable for Class 8 trucks, as well as 10 Level 2 chargers, with commissioning targeted for 2029.
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The Bronx is Breathing initiative is intended to serve as a scalable model for electrifying commercial vehicles in areas with heavy truck traffic. The Hunts Point peninsula alone sees more than 15,000 truck movements on a typical working day, making it a focal point for efforts to reduce local air pollution and noise.
“City Harvest rescues and delivers millions of pounds of food to New Yorkers every year,” said Keith Brandis, head of policy and regulatory affairs for North America at Volvo Group’s Trucks Technology & Industrial Division. “We are proud that these new electric trucks will support that crucial mission with cleaner, quieter operations.”
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David Sandbank, senior vice president of integrated energy solutions at NYSERDA, said the project would help accelerate the shift away from diesel vehicles in the South Bronx. “This transition to zero-emission delivery trucks will reduce noise and improve air quality for local residents,” he said.
City Harvest’s vehicles form part of a broader eight-truck electric deployment supported by Volvo Group under the Bronx is Breathing initiative, which also covers waste services and local delivery operations. City Harvest said it rescues and distributes more than 86 million pounds of food annually.
