The US Department of Energy (DOE) has earmarked 68 million dollars to accelerate EV infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks. The focus will be on the design, development and demonstration of innovative charging sites.
The projects are funded through the DOE’s SuperTruck Charge initiative. There are three in total, all located near key ports, distribution hubs, and major corridors in the US.
The first project, led by Pearl Street Property Company, will focus on innovative grid and load management strategies. The plan is to install ten pull-through truck charging stalls at a location along the I-10 corridor in Arizona. These will offer MCS chargers, and the sites will be equipped with solar canopies and 3 MW of battery electric storage systems to supplement energy demand when needed. The project is funded with 20 million dollars.
26 million dollars will go to a project headed by Greenlane Infrastructure in California. The joint venture between Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), NextEra Energy Resources, and Blackrock, announced in 2022 plans to build a US-wide network of charging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations. The now-announced funding will go towards installing a public charging site in Barstow, California, that offers more than 10 MW. The site will include solar arrays and energy storage to minimise the impact on the grid.
The third and final project is headed by the Utah State University and received 22 million dollars in funding. It aims to develop a “reliable, replicable, and scalable charging infrastructure blueprint that can be implemented nationwide, even in areas with limited grid capacity.” It will set up a charging facility called SuperCharge, offering up to 9 MW max concurrent charging capability and 12 MW of installed EV charging equipment. However, only 4.5 MW will come from the grid.
“The US 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. “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.”
This is just the latest funding announced by the DOE. It also earmarked $43.7 million for new EV stations, for instance for bike- or carsharing schemes or in multifamily housing, as part of its Communities Taking Charge Accelerator programme. And in December, it awarded a total of 25 million dollars to eleven projects related to next-generation batteries.