Volvo Trucks North America freshly announced that they are joining forces with Volvo Financial Services, Volvo Technology of America, TEC Equipment, Affinity Truck Center, Western Truck Center, and Shell Recharge Solutions to create a public accessible medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle (MHD EV), charging network that connects many of California’s most populous metropolitan areas. The Electrified Charging Corridor Project, which was awarded $2 million by the California Energy Commission under BESTFIT, will help to address the key barriers to long-range MHD EV deployments. It will also accelerate widespread adoption. The project is expected to begin in 2022 and all five stations will be online by 2023.
“This project will open up the door to an electrified freight future where zero-tailpipe emissions medium- and heavy-duty trucks are not limited to short-mileage return-to base operations and can reach far across the state,” stated Peter Voorhoeve (president, Volvo Trucks North America).”We are thrilled to start construction of the Electrified Charging Corridor Project in collaboration with these pioneering truck dealers so that we can further assist fleets in successfully integrating electric trucks into their operations. We will see an acceleration in the progress of this project with the help of the CEC, which will have ripple effects throughout the industry.” the president added.
“Volvo Financial Services is committed to the development of new solutions to enable innovative fleets to take the leap towards zero-emission transportation while minimizing their need to invest in private charging infrastructure,” said Patrick Shannon, North American president of Volvo Financial Services.
The project will install high-powered chargers at a number of Volvo Trucks dealerships throughout Central and Northern California over the next 18 months. This includes TEC Equipment Oakland and Dixon, Western Truck Centers Stockton, and Affinity Truck Centers Fresno and Bakersfield. These chargers will be an extension of the chargers that are already available at the TEC Fontana or TEC La Mirada locations throughout Southern California. Fleets using battery-electric trucks can travel between Southern, Central, and Northern California with zero tailpipe emissions thanks to the strategically placed charging stations.
“This investment in an electric truck charging corridor will help to increase customer confidence in today’s commercial battery-electric offerings. Shell Recharge Solutions is proud to be part of this innovative charging infrastructure initiative that will ease range anxiety for electric vehicle customers traveling through Southern, Central and Northern California,” stated Matt Androski chief commercial officer at Shell Recharge Solutions.
The Electrified Charging Corridor Project has the goal of enabling convenient charging for:
- Fleets of small businesses that do not want to make large financial investments in large-scale charging infrastructure.
- For fleets that are looking to rent or lease an electric vehicle
- Fleets who require an OEM-neutral location for “opportunity charges” along their route.
“The Energy Commission is delighted to support the Electrified Charging Corridor project. This will help California achieve its goal of eliminating truck tailpipe emissions. The project will demonstrate refueling options for long-distance zero-tailpipe emission truck travel and could stimulate additional investments throughout the state, the country and around the globe,” stated Patty Monahan, CEC Commissioner.