Energy Exchange

Photo courtesy of North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE).

By Lindsay Shigetomi

It’s one thing to see electric trucks on the showroom floor, but it’s an entirely different feeling to see them out in the wild.

Earlier this month, I attended a ribbon-cutting event in South El Monte, California — one of the largest freight hubs in America — to celebrate the roll-out of 50 electric trucks by Schneider. While it is currently one of the largest deployments of class 8 EVs at a single depot, Schneider plans to add 42 more electric trucks to this location by end-of-year, which would have the climate impact of removing 2,400 gas-powered cars from the road.

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By Michael Colvin and Larissa Koehler

Last month California took another significant step forward in advancing the deployment of zero-emission vehicles, with the adoption of a Transportation Electrification Framework by the state’s Public Utilities Commission.  The framework establishes a $1 billion, 5-year suite of programs, and it provides a pathway for the state’s large electric utilities to continue to build on what is far and away the most successful deployment of electric vehicles in the country.

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This summer, California made national news by adopting a rule that will require all new passenger vehicle sales to be zero emission by 2035. At the same time, the state is also considering a complementary rule to replace medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses to also be zero emissions. To support this transition, California will need to make a major investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The California Energy Commission estimates that by 2030 California may need up to 1.2 million EV chargers to support an estimated eight million passenger electric vehicles and an additional 157,000 chargers to support non-passenger vehicles, such as trucks and buses. There are currently over 1.2 million electric passenger vehicles on California’s roads, and significantly fewer chargers than will be needed in 2030. The charging needs of trucks and buses are vastly different from those of private cars — in terms of power demands, locations and access — just to name a few. Unlocking both private and public charging for these vehicles will be a foundational investment to ensure the transition to zero-emission vehicles happens as quickly as possible.

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