Funded by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, California Energy Commission and California Air Resources Board, the fleet forms part of ongoing plans to halve its US-wide fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared to 2007 levels.

Once complete, the trucks will make up nearly 20% of the company’s Californian fleet and save a claimed 166,000 gallons of fuel and 4.5 million pounds of greenhouse gases each year. They will bring Frito-Lay’s electric commercial fleet total to 275 vehicles – the largest in the United States – and closely follows a smaller-scale roll-out of electric trucks in Boston.

Leslie Starr Keating, senior vice president, supply chain for Frito-Lay North America said: ‘We have seen the accelerated growth and acquisition of this innovative technology because of the support from California. It's these private and public partnerships that create the momentum that alternative fuel vehicles need to become even more competitive.’

Frito-Lay’s parent company, PepsiCo, has also taken steps to broaden the way it powers its fleet. Company-wide, it already has 267 hybrid trucks, 176 hybrid cars and 81 alternative fuel vehicles on its fleet.