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In order to build a charging network for electric freight cars, Daimler Truck North America, BlackRock, and NextEra Energy Resources joined up to form Greenlane. Over 650 million dollars will be spent by the joint venture to build charging infrastructure along important freight routes. Additionally, the network will have hydrogen refueling stations.
A joint venture to establish a new company called Greenlane has been established by US-based green energy producer NextEra Energy Resources, vehicle manufacturer Daimler Trucks North America, and financial firm BlackRock Alternatives. The new business will be focused on creating and putting in place hydrogen and EV charging infrastructure for heavy- and medium-duty freight vehicles to use all throughout the US.
Photo Credit: Electrek
The first location will be in Southern California, and the initial phase of the new charging network will consist of high-performance EV chargers, with hydrogen fuel-cell replenishing stations coming later. That’s about all that has been revealed about the network’s specifications. To reach the net-zero status that Greenlane is striving for, it is likely that the charging infrastructure will make use of NextEra Energy’s proficiency with green energy.
The long-term objective of Greenlane is to establish zero-emission infrastructure on the US east and west coasts, along vital freight routes. Greenlane plans to eventually expand into light-duty cars while the infrastructure for heavy- and medium-duty freight trucks is being built. The strategic alliance with Daimler was no accident given that Daimler manufactures a lot of commercial electric vehicles and buses and that Greenlane wants to build ties with the businesses using its charging network on both a hardware and software level.
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The only chargers currently designed for use by freight trucks are Tesla’s Mega Chargers. Although connected vehicles are uncommon, Tesla’s charger, as its name suggests, delivers 1,000 kW (1 MW) or more to them. Most recently, we reported that Mega Chargers had been discovered in Sacramento, with the Modesto facility of Pepsi being another confirmed destination.
Between May 1 and May 4, 2023, Greenlane will attend the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo. It is possible that more information will be revealed there.
