California Pushes The Electric Truck Envelope, Again

---

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

---

Despite anti-EV pressure from the federal government, California Governor Gavin “America’s Most Favorite Governor” Newsom continues to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, and private sector stakeholders in California continue to enjoy a mother lode of business opportunities in the EV-friendly state. The latest example comes in the area of electric truck charging, where two leading firms have partnered to break the fleet electrification movement wide open.

What’s Holding Back The Electric Truck Of The Future?

With a tremendous amount of buying power in their pockets, fleet operators have been flexing their muscles in the electric truck field, one high profile example being Amazon’s electric delivery van partnership with the startup Rivian. Fedex is another scaled-up example in the area of electric vans.

Cracking into the market for medium-and heavy-duty electric trucks is a next-level challenge. Bigger trucks mean bigger batteries, longer charging times, and more complications for fleet operators.

Some fleet operators can address the charging issue at their own private depots. Earlier this year the California Energy Commission also launched a new online dashboard aimed at providing drivers and fleet operators with a single source for spotting public electric truck charging locations.

Still, a new white paper from the MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium indicates that a yawning gap in charging station availability will remain unless industry stakeholders work together to build out the public electric truck charging network.

The paper was produced with input from industry representatives Prologis, Accenture and Cargill under the self-explanatory title, “Shared Electric Vehicle Charging Networks: A Flexible Approach to Support Deployment of Zero Emission Fleets.”

“There are clear theoretical benefits in terms of reduced investment cost from fleets pooling investment and use of charging infrastructure,” notes MCSC Impact Fellow Danika Eamer, who co-authored the paper.

“The challenge is in how different players could coordinate the planning and management of shared infrastructure,” Eamer adds.

The white paper describes how stakeholders can collaborate to scale up fleet electrification. “The framework provides guidance for fleets, infrastructure providers, and other industry stakeholders to collectively plan the pooled investment and shared use of charging infrastructure — helping to ease the burden of coordination,” MCSC explains.

More EV Charging Stations For More Electric Trucks

Prologis, for one, is not waiting around for the grass to grow under its feet. Earlier today the company announced a new partnership with the California-based fleet electrification firm EV Realty, aimed at hitting the gas pedal on the electric truck movement.

“EV Realty and Prologis Mobility plan to coordinate access to high-power charging infrastructure at regional hubs located near ports, logistics centers and major freight routes,” EV Realty explains. “Once operational, the shared access model will offer fleet operators a more consistent and scalable approach to charging across key California freight regions and corridors.”

In this day and age of soaring electricity demand, the big question is where all the power will come from. A number of options have emerged alongside straightforward grid connections, including grid connections with battery storage to enable demand shifting. Fuel cells and gas hookups are also an option.

I have a note in to EV Realty to see if any details are available on power sources. In the meantime, the two partners have already decided that their first two electric truck charging hubs will be up and running before the end of this year, in Vernon and San Bernardino, “with more to come across both Northern and Southern California.”

What Is This EV Realty Of Which You Speak?

Prologis is a familiar face on the pages of CleanTechnica and it is already on the move. Last year, for example, the company opened a new electric truck charging depot for Maersk near the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, capable of charging up to 96 heavy-duty trucks at the same time.

EV Realty has been flying under the radar, so we’re overdue for some catch-up. The startup’s “Powered Properties” model is aimed squarely at accelerating electric truck uptake. “EV Realty was founded by a team of infrastructure development executives who built 9 GW of renewable energy projects across the U.S. over the past decade,” the company says of itself, affirming the power-first strategy behind the partnership with Prologis.

“By developing shared private fleet charging hubs that service multiple commercial fleets in secure, high-power locations with dedicated charging access and availability, EV Realty ensures that companies across industries optimize their EV fleet operations,” they add.

Of course, it’s not all about saving the planet. EV Realty promises to deliver bottom line benefits as well as a glide path to fleet electrification. “Our customers benefit from reduced costs, optimized use of available grid capacity, and an accelerated implementation timeline for EV charging infrastructure at scale,” EV Realty states.

California Is The Honey Badger Of Fleet Electrification…

Even as anti-EV policy makers ratchet up the pressure, the state of California is going its own way as befits its status as the fourth-largest economy in the world.

The industry-centered clean transportation organization CALSTART is among those taking the lead. In March, CALSTART partnered with EV Realty in a new venture aimed at leveraging the Powered Properties model to aggregate demand, thereby coordinating electric truck charging with grid optimization strategies.

“EV Realty’s shared, multi-fleet charging model offers a scalable solution that improves fleet operator economics and provides access to high-power charging for Class 2b through Class 8 vehicles, without the costs and delays associated with utility grid upgrades,” EV Realty noted in a press statement.

The partnership combines EV Realty’s power-first infrastructure planning experience with the fleet analytics portfolio developed by CALSTART. “By bringing together EV Realty’s grid-ready charging solutions and CALSTART’s ability to align industry demand, we are helping fleets make the shift to zero-emission vehicles faster and more efficiently,” added CALSTART VP Dr. Jasna Tomic.

…Just In Time For The New Tesla Semi Electric Truck

All of this activity bodes well for electric truck manufacturers in the US. The timing is especially good for Tesla, which is finally nearing volume production of its much-delayed Semi Class 8 truck.

On the other hand, other truck makers have also been crowding into the Class 8 field. Tesla enjoyed a near-exclusive lock on the electric passenger car market for years following its initial launch, but the Semi will have to compete against trusted legacy truck manufacturers like Kenworth and Peterbilt (both under the PACCAR umbrella) as well as Mack Trucks and a growing roster of startups.

That will be…interesting. Unlike Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the heads of other electric truck firms have not left messy footprints all over the federal government. Musk’s legacy as head of the White House “DOGE” agency continues to spin out in all its misbegotten glory, offering new reasons to avoid the Tesla brand every step of the way.

Photo (cropped, color adjusted): Two leading stakeholders in the electric truck charging field have joined forces to accelerate the fleet electrification movement in California (courtesy of EV Realty).