Daimler and BlackRock-backed Greenlane announces plans to build 280 mile long “EV corridor” for commercial trucks running from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
Greenlane announced its plans for a new commercial charging corridor along I-15 earlier today, with initial charging locations in Colton, California, with additional stops in Barstow and Baker following soon after, with the corridor extending beyond Southern Nevada and on to San Pedro, California the following year.
As for why they’re starting in Colton, Greenlane CEO Patrick Macdonald-King explains that, “After considering various factors, such as truck telematics data, frequent freight routes and customer deployment strategy, the Greenlane team selected these three optimal locations for our first commercial charging corridor to accelerate the transition to zero emissions.”
Once complete, the Colton, CA site is slated to offer over 60 chargers, including 400 kW Direct Current Fast Chargers (DCFC) to minimize the downtime of medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks. More 200 kW DCFC charging options onsite will enable charging over slightly longer stops, with other options available for overnight and “hotel” charging for heavy-duty semi tractors. Greenlane says it also has plans deploy multiple passenger charging ports for cars, as well, in a bid to support light-duty trucks and passenger cars.
And if that sounds like a Flying J or Love’s Travel Stop to you, it just means you’re paying attention, because Geenlane specifically references the “current rest stop experience” in its press release.
Designed to upgrade and enhance the current rest stop experience, each Greenlane site will have wide pull-through lanes, allowing drivers to enter and exit the property quickly and easily. While waiting for vehicles to charge, drivers can access modern facilities, with restrooms and other amenities, including food and beverage options.
This isn’t just about taking business from your favorite highway rest stop, though. It’s about meeting the need for more safe, reliable charging facilities along America’s highways. “The launch of this corridor not only marks a critical step in addressing the urgent need for publicly available, nationwide electric charging for commercial vehicles,” adds Macdonald-King, “but will also serve as a model for the EV charging hubs of the future.”
Greenlane is targeting a spring groundbreaking on its Colton flagship site at the intersection of I-10 and I-215, with plans for a grand opening in late 2024. The company eventually plans to roll out a nationwide network of commercial charging infrastructure locations across the US.
Electrek’s Take
Daimler Trucks North America, through Greenlane, is taking a page from the Tesla playbook and ensuring that buyers of its Freightliner eCascadia, eM2 box truck, MT50e electric chassis, and future products will have a place to charge them. It’s a big move – one that other OEMs like Ford, GM, etc. failed to take on. And, as a consequence, Tesla ate their lunch. It seems that Daimler isn’t planning on letting the same thing happen to them in the big truck space.
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