Daimler is setting up a $650 million charging network for commercial EVs

There’s a new fast-charging network coming to North America. It’s called Greenlane, and it’s a $650 million joint venture between Daimler, NextEra Energy Resources, and a BlackRock investment fund. But it’s unlikely you’ll recharge your passenger EV at a Greenlane site any time soon—this new network is being designed specifically for medium- and heavy-duty commercial EVs.

You’d be forgiven for not noticing the expansion of the nation’s public charging infrastructure. Unlike gas stations, charging sites don’t announce their presence with a 50-foot illuminated sign—you often need an app to know exactly where they all are—but they’re building out to the point where much more long-distance driving is possible on electric power than the EV-curious might think (or worse, than the EV skeptic might claim).

But this public infrastructure is almost entirely designed for light-duty vehicles—sedans, crossovers, SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks. The charging spaces are light-vehicle-sized, and the sites are designed to work with vehicles of that size, not several classes higher.

This is less of a problem for vehicle fleets that set off and return to the same place after each shift. Whether it’s FedEx or UPS or the USPS with electric delivery vans or a local municipality that has purchased a fleet of electric buses, those just need to be plugged in once they’re done for the day, and they’ll be ready to start the next day with a full battery.

But longer-haul trips by electric tractor-trailers will require recharging along the route. And even with the best will in the world, you’re unlikely to fit an eCascadia class 8 truck into an Electrify America or Tesla Supercharger stall—at least, not in a way that would get you invited back again.

Based on the company’s renderings, Greenlane’s sites will be much more comfortable for big rigs. The first of these sites will be in Southern California, and Greenlane says it will build out a network along critical freight routes on the East and West Coasts, as well as in Texas. To begin with, the company will focus on commercial EV recharging, but refueling infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cell EVs will follow. In time, Greenlane plans to add chargers for passenger (or light-duty) EVs.

“Greenlane is designed to begin to tackle one of the greatest hurdles to the trucking industry’s decarbonization—infrastructure,” said John O’Leary, Daimler Trucks North America’s president and CEO.

“The nation’s fleets can only transform with the critical catalyst of publicly accessible charging designed to meet the needs for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Together with our strong partners, BlackRock and NextEra Energy Resources, we are launching Greenlane to address the unique demands of the industry, support our mutual customers, and provide a dual benefit to all electric vehicle drivers who will be able to utilize this new network. We’re excited to take this next step and look forward to sharing more of Greenlane’s plans in the future,” O’Leary said.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1935304