Penske Forms EV Infrastructure Advisory JV With Mitsui Unit
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LAS VEGAS — Penske Transportation Solutions and ForeFront Power are teaming up for an electric vehicle infrastructure advisory joint venture to be known as Penske Energy, the partners said May 21.
The partners aim to help commercial fleet operators plan, design and deploy charging infrastructure.
Penske — best known as a leasing and rental specialist — operates more than 448,000 vehicles. Penske Logistics ranks No. 15 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 16 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
ForeFront, a subsidiary of Japanese trading house Mitsui and Co., develops commercial and industrial-scale solar energy and battery storage projects in the U.S. and Mexico, plus charging infrastructure. Mitsui also is a Penske shareholder.
“Together, we will create synergies benefiting commercial fleet customers by leveraging Penske’s deep fleet expertise along with ForeFront Power’s infrastructure and renewable energy development expertise,” said Drew Cullen, Penske Transportation Solutions senior vice president of fuels and facilities.
Penske Transportation Solutions and @ForeFrontPower have formed a new joint venture, Penske Energy. It provides fleet operators with EV charging/energy infrastructure consulting. More: https://t.co/eV9D7lvo4x #ACTExpo #PenskeEnergy #Penske #Sustainability pic.twitter.com/M2rREXg7Zf — Penske Transportation Solutions (@PenskeNews) May 22, 2024
The JV is set to offer fleet operators EV charging and energy infrastructure advisory consulting, including strategic and operational planning, technology assessment, infrastructure designs and practical project implementation, the partners said.
“We’re pleased to form the Penske Energy venture to support the commercial fleet electrification work accelerating across the U.S.,” said Dan Taylor, chief strategy officer at ForeFront Power, adding that the company brings more than a decade of experience in developing critical energy infrastructure for organizations such as airports, manufacturing facilities, hospitals and universities.
Penske Energy will look to assess vehicle and route feasibility, track EV policy and incentive opportunities, as well as design and source proven EV charging infrastructure, the partners said.
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“We’ll work with our long-standing supplier partners in the energy and energy infrastructure sector and bring to bear the best possible solutions available for our commercial fleet customers,” Cullen said.
Cullen said the partnership had been operating in stealth mode for about 12 months before its public reveal at Advanced Clean Transportation Expo 2024.
Penske’s customers were really going to struggle with building out the EV infrastructure they are growing more and more likely to seek, Cullen said during the public reveal. “It became apparent the best way to help our customers was to do it ourselves,” he said.
The partners spent a lot of time studying what customers needed, going through hundreds of options, Taylor told ACT Expo attendees. Sourcing the energy is going to be a major headache for fleets, he said, and the joint venture’s aim is to help answer the questions that are bound to come up. It would aid fleets with risk management, cost management and how to carry out the projects from start to finish, he said.
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