Xos sells 120 electric vehicles to FedEx Ground ISPs

Xos Inc., which makes medium- to heavy-duty electric trucks, said Monday it has sold 120 medium-duty trucks to 35 FedEx Ground independent service providers (ISPs) in five states.

The trucks are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter and in 2022, Xos said. The ISPs are based in Texas, California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Talks are ongoing to sell additional vehicles in 2022 and 2023 to these and other ISPs in the FedEx Ground network, Los Angeles-based Xos said. 

FedEx Ground, a unit of Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), is believed to have 5,500 ISPs in the U.S. The ISPs manage the drivers who provide pick-up and delivery services on behalf of FedEx Ground.

FedEx said in March that it plans to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. It also said at the time that, by 2030, it would purchase nothing but electric vehicles for its ground operations. FedEx operates its own trucks for its Express air and international unit, as well as its FedEx Freight LTL unit.

However, because FedEx Ground is operated by nonemployees, FedEx is not obligated to purchase electric vehicles. The parent company has said it would offer some type of financial assistance to ISPs to help them transition to all-electric vehicles, but it has not specified how it will do that.

Neither FedEx nor Xos responded to requests for comment beyond the initial statement.

Xos plans to be acquired by NextGen Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC. NextGen has set an Aug. 18 shareholder meeting in New York to vote on the proposed combination.

Also known as a “blank check company,” a SPAC is a listed company that is structured with the purpose of acquiring a private concern, thus making it public without going through the traditional initial public offering process.