Largest U.S. truck charging system planned

Electrify America and NFI Industries have announced plans to install what they said is the nation’s single largest charging infrastructure project to support heavy-duty electric trucks. The system, to be configured by Electrify America, will incorporate 34 ultra-fast dc chargers, with installation expected to be complete by December 2023.

Drayage fleet operator NFI and Electrify America will collaborate on the installation of what the companies said will be the single largest electric vehicle recharging project in North America.

“Electrify America is constantly embarking on innovative initiatives to drive the EV industry forward, and this milestone project is the latest example of the company’s leadership in thinking bigger and bolder about the future of mobility,” said Rachel Moses, director of Commercial Services, Business Development & Green Cities at Electrify America. “We are delighted to collaborate with NFI and look forward to installing a first-of-its-kind commercial charging facility to power this fleet of electric freight trucks.”

NFI said it will deploy 60 battery-electric drayage trucks and will become the first 100% zero-emission fleet operator and truck shop in California. The Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI) will help fund 50 of the trucks, with 10 additional Volvo VNR Electrics funded by Volvo Trucks North America and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Targeted Air Shed Grant Program

The charging infrastructure to support this fleet will be installed at NFI’s Ontario, Calif., facility and incorporate 150 and 350 kW ultra-fast chargers. The chargers will serve NFI’s fleet of battery-electric freight trucks used for drayage at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, picking up containers from the ports and transporting them back to the Ontario facility.

To bolster resiliency, leverage renewable electricity, and reduce ongoing costs, multiple megawatts (MW) of distributed energy resources (DER) will be co-located with the charging infrastructure, including both solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage.

“As NFI continues to spearhead supply chain sustainability and minimize the industry’s environmental impact, many elements need to align to ensure we continue making progress,” said Bill Bliem, senior vice president of Fleet Services at NFI. “Throughout our experience, we’ve learned that having the right partners, technology, and access to safe, reliable and fast-charging infrastructure are essential to the successful implementation of EVs. We are excited for this opportunity to collaborate with the charging infrastructure experts at Electrify America as we move beyond our demonstration projects and scale our Ontario facility infrastructure to support a 100% electric drayage fleet.”

In addition to NFI and Electrify America’s investments, the electric truck charging infrastructure project is partially funded by a joint project between the California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s JETSI” project to advance electric fleet adoption.