Gateway Fleets has placed a follow-on order for 200 Workhorse W56 electric step vans, tripling its total commitment to the all-electric delivery truck this year.
The California-based fleet operator announced the expansion alongside Workhorse Group and dealer Kingsburg Truck Center on September 30, building on an earlier 2026 order for 100 of the same vehicles.
Details of the expanded order
Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS) and Kingsburg Truck Center (KTC), a leading California truck dealer, announced that Gateway Fleets has placed a follow-on purchase order for 200 W56 fully-electric step vans. Gateway, a California-based provider of turnkey electric vehicle and charging solutions for commercial delivery operators, is purchasing the vehicles through KTC with the intent to lease them to its customers, who are primarily last-mile independent package delivery providers.
Through Gateway’s lease structure, operators will gain the fuel and maintenance savings of electric vehicles while managing cash flow and avoiding large upfront capital expenditures.
Gateway currently operates depots in Southern California and is scaling its network to meet growing operator demand across the region and beyond.
Deliveries under the new order are expected to begin in the second half of 2027 and continue through 2028, according to Truck News.
Van specifications and build location
The W56 step vans available through Gateway are Standard Wheelbase (178″) configurations with a 210 kWh battery, offering 1,000 cubic feet of cargo space, a payload of 10,000 lbs. and a nominal range of 150 miles per charge.
Workhorse builds the W56 at its Union City, Ind., manufacturing plant, which the company says has capacity to produce more than 5,000 vehicles annually on a standard operating shift , Truck News reported.
The order is the latest sign of commercial fleet operators embracing electrification even as broader passenger EV demand has cooled, a trend GCN has tracked as legacy automakers saw steep drops in quarterly EV sales this year.
Workhorse CEO Scott Griffith tied the deal to volatile diesel prices pressuring small delivery operators.
” In today’s era of high and volatile fuel prices, customers are seeking the stability and lower operating costs associated with electric trucks, without sacrificing safety or performance ,” Griffith said, according to Automotive World.
Why the leasing model matters
Griffith added that Gateway’s bundled approach addresses the two biggest obstacles that have slowed commercial EV adoption.
” We believe Gateway’s innovative model will help unlock wider adoption of electric trucks through its bundled pricing that eliminates the two biggest barriers to widespread adoption: the higher upfront cost of the vehicle and the added investment capital required to build out the charging infrastructure ,” Griffith said.
Kingsburg Truck Center owner Jerry Smith said the three-party arrangement has worked well in its first phase.
” This partnership brings together three critical components of fleet electrification: a high quality, proven Workhorse truck; a deployment and service partner, Gateway; and our team at Kingsburg, providing full-circle consultative sales, incentive processing and service support ,” Smith said.
” We’ve had nothing but positive feedback on the performance of the W56 this year, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2027. “
Context for the delivery sector
The deal arrives as fleet operators weigh electric trucks against rising fuel volatility and tighter margins on last-mile delivery routes.
Gateway’s customers are independent operators who typically lack the balance sheets of major carriers, making a lease structure with bundled charging access a more realistic entry point than an outright purchase, according to the GlobeNewswire filing of the announcement.
To date, Workhorse has delivered more than 1,100 vehicles as it has built a fleet-sales channel for the W56.
With the Gateway order, the company adds a third-party leasing channel to its direct sales relationships, a model that could be replicated with other regional delivery networks if the California rollout succeeds as planned.
