San Francisco startup TeraWatt Infrastructure announced the development of the first network of electric vehicle-charging centers, according to CNBC.
The network will be for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks along the Interstate 10 highway, from Long Beach, California, to El Paso, Texas.
The company, which also raised more than $1 billion to build charging infrastructure, stated that the facilities would be placed approximately 150 miles apart and located less than one mile from the nearest highway exits for easy access across Arizona, California, and New Mexico.
Medium and Heavy Trucks Make Up 4% of US Vehicles
Medium and heavy trucks make up about 4 percent of vehicles in the U.S. However, due to their greater travel distances and larger size, the vehicles take more than 25 percent of total highway fuel and represent almost 30 percent of highway carbon emissions, per the Department of Energy.
“Long-haul trucking electrification represents a significant opportunity to reduce transportation sector emissions, but hinges on the rapid scale up of specialized charging infrastructure,” said TeraWatt CEO Neha Palmer.
“Our real estate and energy infrastructure development platform uniquely positions TeraWatt to solve the ‘charging problem’ for trucking operators, making freight electrification achievable within their operations.”
Terawatt’s Charging Centers
TeraWatt’s charging centers will show dozens of direct current (D.C.) fast chargers, on-site driver amenities, and pull-through charging stalls for local and long-haul electric-trucking operations, the company stated. The first sites are settled to come online in 2023.
“While there is a limited number of electric long-haul trucks on the road today, these vehicles are coming sooner than we think and we need the charging infrastructure to be ready,” Palmer told CNBC.
The announcement follows after the Biden administration laid out plans to allocate $5 billion to states in funding EV chargers along interstate highways as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In addition, in September, the Department of Transportation (DOT) approved electric vehicle charging station plans for all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., which covers about 75,000 miles of highways. Also, States have access to more than $1.5 billion to help charger construction.
Notably, the Biden administration also set a target for EVs to be half of all new vehicle sales by 2030, and by 2035, promised to replace its federal fleet with electric power.
With TeraWatt, trucking companies have a committed partner in managing all operations connected to charging infrastructure along the I-10 corridor.
TeraWatt will maintain and operate its Charging Centers with the highest reliability standard. It will utilize advanced technology such as battery-backed renewable energy and megawatt charging stations as commercially appropriate.
They are also partnering with local and state governments and utilities and plan to leverage several grants and incentives to provide additional benefits to customers.
