INDIANAPOLIS — When the time came to redo leases on trucks for its delivery fleet, Kittle’s Furniture here was presented an interesting option.

Palmer Leasing, the group that provides the Indianapolis-based retailer with its trucks, had come into possession of an electric truck and thought six-store Kittle’s would be a great first user.

“They asked if we would be interested in getting that truck instead of a diesel unit. The way the world’s going, we thought it would be a good idea to try it out and see how it goes,” Tyler Baker, director of operations for the retailer, told Furniture Today. “It’s a little more expensive, but they worked with us and made us a good deal, so we decided to try it.”

The truck was incorporated into the fleet in November and has been on the road consistently for six months. Baker said there were some learning moments when it was rolled out, including managing its charge, but since then it’s been a fixture, particularly for local deliveries.

“It has performed great. We keep it local; it’s got a 200-mile range on it,” Baker said. “Most of our customers are within 10 miles of our distribution center, so we drive it 75 to 100 miles a day and when we get back, there are roughly 100 miles on it. If we were go to some of our remote areas, it would be tough, but luckily most of our customers are close to us. That’s another reason we were able to do it.”

So how was the new truck received by the delivery teams that get to drive it?

“They love it. It was a little weird at first because it was so quiet, kind of like a golf cart. Once they got used to it, they love it. It gets up and goes pretty quickly,” Baker said.

Customers are also wowed when the EV makes a stop. “The customers love it. We have a big wrap on it that says it’s an electric truck,” Baker said.

Baker said the cost savings of not having to refuel the truck with diesel essentially offsets the additional cost of the lease. He said as these vehicles become more accepted and available, those costs should come down, and Kittle’s would be open to additional opportunities, particularly for its local stops.

“We’ll definitely consider it. Right now, with the mileages, we wouldn’t be able to have a whole fleet, but it’s something we would look at more than we have in the past,” he said. “Especially a few years from now, Palmer expects the prices to come down. As prices come down and lease rates come down, it’s definitely something we’ll look into in the future.”

See also:

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Another round of damaging winds and large hail are possible Wednesday evening.

This morning:

Some areas of fog have developed this morning as a warm front drapes and salts across the state. Expect any form that does develop here this morning to burn off by around eight or nine a.m.

Wednesday:

Much of the day will likely be dry, with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies. We have pretty high humidity, especially in the southern portions of the state on the southern end of the warm front. High temperatures will top out into the mid-80s this afternoon.

Wednesday night:

Another round of the strongest severe thunderstorms will develop by late afternoon, and then more so into the evening hours. Much of central Indiana is at a slight risk for severe weather, with a higher risk down along the Ohio River. Much of the activity will likely be south of the warm front, which as of right now looks to be mainly in the southern third of the state. We could still see some storms along the warm front in the metro area, with wind and hail being the primary concerns.

Overnight, there could be an MCS developing and sliding through the state, which would likely be in the southern portions of the state.

Overnight dips down into the 60s.

Thursday:

A wave working through on Thursday could bring some scattered showers and even a rumble of thunder, mainly to the northern portions of the state. This will also bring some much cooler temperatures to the state, with highs topping out into the mid-upper 60s on Thursday afternoon.

Friday:

Friday will be a quiet but cool day. Partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid-60s.

This weekend:

Much of Mother’s Day weekend should be dry, but there is an outside shot for some isolated showers heading into Saturday. I certainly don’t think that that’s going to be a washout, but you should keep that in mind if you’re heading out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Grand Prix on Saturday. Mother’s Day looks dry and warmer, with partly cloudy skies and highs near 70.

8 day forecast:

We bounce back a bit, as we head into next week. High temperatures will be back to the mid- and upper 70s, which is running about 5 to 8° above average for this time of year.

Stay ahead of the weather with the latest updates and forecasts from our Storm Track 8 newsletter. Subscribe today!