What’s Happening
Electric transportation developer WattEV has completed construction on its 26-truck charging plaza at the Port of Long Beach, set to open for public use during the week of May 15. The plaza is the largest public truck charging station in the United States. Prior to its public opening, the facility will be showcased at the VOLTS conference on May 9-10, an event sponsored by the California Energy Commission and hosted by CharIN Inc.
Why It Matters
The Port of Long Beach is the busiest ocean port complex in the nation. The new charging depot, branded as “WattEV,” will accommodate the increasing number of heavy-duty electric trucks servicing the port. It will support the first 14 Nikola electric trucks operating on WattEV’s zero-emission fleet-transportation platform, with plans to expand to over 100 electric trucks by the end of 2023.
Key Points
- WattEV’s charging plaza is situated adjacent to the Pier-A terminal in the Port of Long Beach and will serve heavy-duty electric trucks with routes connecting to Southern California.
- The current WattEV fleet will transport freight from the port to warehouses as far as 94 miles away.
- Salim Youssefzadeh, CEO of WattEV, stated that the depot is designed to serve electric truck operations throughout the San Pedro Bay ports complex and is the first of several WattEV electric truck charging depots planned across California.
- The charging depot will cater to WattEV’s fleet and other fleets transitioning to electric trucking operations at the combined ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which receive about 40% of the nation’s containerized imports.
- Both ports have clean air goals aiming for 100% zero-emission trucks serving the ports by 2035.
Bottom Line
WattEV’s new charging plaza marks a significant step towards enabling transporters to transition to zero-emission trucking. Upon opening, the facility will feature 26 charging bays using Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors, providing up to 360 kilowatts of power. The company also plans to add four pass-through e-truck bays featuring the Megawatt Charging System (MCS), which is expected to become the global standard for fast charging medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, reducing charge times to under 30 minutes.
