INDIANAPOLIS (March 8, 2021) — NTEA - The Association for the Work Truck Industry, kicked off its virtual Work Truck Week March 8. The event showcased new product releases and offered a glimpse at the future of trucks in the construction industry. An early trend at this year’s show is electrification — Ford, XL Fleet and GMC all featured new and revamped electric vehicles, signaling that these major manufacturers are taking sustainability seriously.

GMC announced the EV600, a new entirely electric commercial vehicle developed by BrightDrop, which is slated for release later this year. XL Fleet introduced the XLP Hybrid Electric Uplift, a package available for the Chevrolet and GMC 3500 and 4500 cutaway chassis. And Ford announced a $29B investment in electric vehicle technologies. Ford promised to be the leader in the field for commercial fleets, with an all-electric F150 pickup truck slated for 2022 and the E-transit line of vehicles coming later in 2021.

Meanwhile, Mack elaborated on its entry into the medium-duty truck market with the MD Series of trucks, and also unveiled the new Command Steer variable steering assist function for the large Mack Granite line of trucks. And, on the vehicle tech front, Ford announced increased connectivity for fleet managers, expanding Ford Telematics to all include makes and models, regardless of manufacturer.

Work Truck Week will conclude March 12. For more coverage from the show, follow Construction Business Owner on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.