Charging Depot For 96 Electric Trucks Coming To Livermore, California

East Bay Community Energy is a not-for-profit public agency that operates a community choice energy (CCE) program in the California Bay Area for Alameda County and fourteen incorporated cities, serving more than 1.7 million residential and commercial customers.

East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) recently announced a new financing program to support the transition to zero-emission heavy-duty trucks. The EBCE Board has approved providing $4.5 million in financing to Forum Mobility, a zero-emission truck solutions provider, to support the development of an innovative electric truck charging depot in Livermore, California. Forum Mobility is providing clients with zero-emission trucks and “Charging for One Monthly Price,” lowering the barriers to adoption for fleet operators. Forum Mobility provides accessible zero-emission trucking solutions for drayage in California, from building and operating the charging infrastructure to offering class 8 zero-emission electric trucks.

The chosen site is part of a new network of electric charging depots that Forum Mobility is building for drayage trucking carriers moving freight in and out of the Port of Oakland. The EBCE loan will support the development of Forum’s Greenville Community Charging Depot on a 4.4-acre site just off I-580 in Livermore. The depot will be capable of charging up to 96 trucks simultaneously. The site will have an installed capacity of 6.6 MW total capacity with a mix of different chargers sizes for overnight/slower charging as well as daytime opportunity charging that will be faster to get the trucks back on the road during shifts.

“East Bay Community Energy provides clean electricity from Oakland to Tracy — and now Forum Mobility will provide clean trucking on the same route. We’re excited to help Forum Mobility charge electric trucks with 100% renewable energy, and further reduce harmful emissions in our community,” said Nick Chaset, CEO of East Bay Community Energy.

“The City of Livermore, as a long-time leader in climate action, is proud to help lead the transition to zero-emission goods movement. As the host of key, cutting-edge clean charging infrastructure, cleaning up the I-580 freight corridor starts with us,” said Livermore Councilmember Ben Barrientos, who also serves on EBCE’s Board of Directors.

“Forum is building a network of charging depots for heavy-duty trucks to make the transition to electric. This partnership with EBCE will help Forum deliver fast charging to trucking owners, operators, carriers, and fleets,” said Matt LeDucq, CEO and co-founder of Forum Mobility. “With new rules from the California Air Resources Board requiring zero-emission trucks, Forum and EBCE are working to provide broad access to charging infrastructure and zero-emission trucks.”

According to the US EPA, heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for 23% of the carbon emissions from the transportation sector in the US, as well as 45% of NOx and 57% of PM 2.5 pollution — with disproportionate impacts on communities of color. A transition to zero-emission vehicles will mean cleaner air for communities, a safer climate, and lower costs per mile for truckers.

The ECBE adds that the California Air Resources Board recently approved rules requiring all of California’s in-state drayage fleet — approximately 33,000 trucks — to be zero-emission by 2035. Charging infrastructure is a key ingredient for success — the California Energy Commission estimates that to comply with these and other proposed vehicle regulations, California will need 157,000 medium- and heavy-duty chargers by 2030.

All images courtesy of Forum Mobility.