DOE Hands Out $68M to Heavy-Duty Truck Charging Projects
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The Department of Energy issued $68 million in grants to accelerate the development and construction of public heavy-duty battery-electric truck charging facilities.
Under the agency’s SuperTruck Charge initiative, sites near key ports, distribution hubs and major corridors receive funding, and the latest recipients comprise projects involving charging infrastructure developers Greenlane, Terawatt and Voltera.
Daimler Truck North America-led consortium Greenlane will receive $26 million to develop a more than 10-megawatt charging facility in Barstow, Calif., that will support Interstate 15 freight. The site will feature distributed energy resource systems to help balance the facility’s power demand needs, including solar arrays and energy storage.
A Utah State University project will receive $22 million to establish a reliable, replicable and scalable charging infrastructure blueprint that can be implemented nationwide.
Part of that will involve a charging facility with 9 MW of maximum concurrent charging capacity and 12 MW of installed EV charging equipment.
Voltera was selected to take part in building the charging infrastructure, with the facility part of an inland port in Salt Lake City.
Ashley
“Utah is emerging as an important hub for innovation, and the region is primed to develop and leverage technology to support efficient fleet operations and mitigate freight impact on Salt Lake Valley air quality,” Tom Ashley, Voltera’s vice president of government and utility affairs, told Transport Topics after the award.
Terawatt Infrastructure will receive $20 million to develop a site along the Interstate 10 corridor in either Goodyear or Tucson, Ariz. The facility will have 10 pull-through truck charging stalls with megawatt charging systems compatible chargers, solar canopies and three battery-electric storage systems.
“The U.S. Department of Energy’s SuperTruck program has significantly advanced energy-efficient technologies for freight trucks, which play a vital role in our economy,” said Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Marootian
The SuperTruck program, launched in 2009, has seen truck makers including DTNA build increasingly ambitious and innovative vehicles. Paccar unit Kenworth, for instance, showcased a bullet train-inspired model at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo 2024 in May.
Innovations, including on aerodynamics and powertrains, have then been brought onboard for production models such as Volvo Trucks North America’s redesigned flagship VNL tractor.
“The new SuperTruck Charge projects will add to these advancements by demonstrating replicable models that deliver cost-effective, high-power charging for electric trucks while improving grid resiliency and reliability for medium- and heavy-duty EV deployment,” said Marootian.
Truck Parking Club's Evan Shelley discusses how innovative platforms are turning available space into opportunities for reserved parking. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
Greenlane’s Barstow facility is one of the three initial sites for the developer along I-15. The other two are in Colton and Baker, Calif. The flagship Colton site was scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2024, while Barstow and Baker are scheduled to begin operations this year, Greenlane said in September.
Terawatt is developing 15 sites across several states, including along the I-10 corridor. The first site opened in Inglewood, Calif., in October and a second focused on heavy-duty trucks is scheduled to open early this year in Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
The I-10 corridor is part of the first phase of the U.S. government’s National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.
While Voltera is working on the charging infrastructure at the Utah State project, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company also has 22 sites of its own spread across California, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Florida.
Three charging facilities are up and running, a spokeswoman said in October, and eight more are set to open this year.
Voltera raised $50 million in backing for its expansion plans in November.
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