NFI deploys 50 electric semi trucks and a 38-port charging depot in SoCal
A new 38 port electric truck charging depot and maintenance hub is coming online to service Southern California’s ports and logistics centers, along with 50 new electric trucks from Volvo and Daimler.
Today’s charger opening is part of California’s Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI), a cooperation between various levels of California government to increase electric truck deployment, particularly in vulnerable communities. This is the second stage of the JETSI project, with the first stage being a 32-port charger opened by Schneider last June.
It’s the first of its kind – that we know of anyway – that functions solely as an electric truck charging hub and maintenance facility. No diesel trucks on this property.
This project is being done with NFI, another supply chain and logistics company which operates across much of North America, in cooperation with Electrify America and Southern California Edison. Today’s 38-port charger project is located in Ontario, near Los Angeles and home to many warehouses and logistics operations to service the nearby ports.
The twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles – situated immediately next to each other in Long Beach, California – each accept more containerized traffic than any other port in America. Between the two, roughly 40% of America’s containerized goods come through these ports.
These goods then move on drayage trucks between the ports and California’s Inland Empire, the valley just east of Los Angeles.
As a result, the area is heavily polluted, with logistics traffic being a major contributor. The LA metro area has some of the most-polluted air in the US.
And so, deploying electric trucks here is a huge priority for California government. In California’s new Advanced Clean Fleets rule, these drayage trucks were targeted first – in fact, as of January 1st of this year, you can no longer deploy a new diesel drayage truck in the state. So today’s deployment is no longer all that exceptional in terms of powertrain, but the size and government cooperation make it exceptional.
The California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission put $27 million in funding into the JETSI project, with additional funds coming from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, Port of Long Beach, and Southern California Edison. The project is part of California Climate Investments, a program that puts billions of dollars from California’s cap-and-trade funds into service in reducing emissions.
The chargers will be capable of speeds up to 350kW, with about 7MW of combined capacity across the 38 ports. The trucks will include Freightliner’s eCascadia and Volvo’s VNR Electric.
NFI’s charger will also include solar and battery storage, with 1MW of solar and 8MWh of battery storage on-site, though both of these won’t be installed until later this year.
In all, the JETSI project stands to displace 5.5 million gallon-equivalents of diesel fuel over its lifetime, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8,200 tons per year and criteria pollutant emissions by 5 tons per year.
Electrek’s Take
Just like the last time we visited one of these big truck charging hubs, the drive out to the event was quite striking. As we got closer to the site, the freeway got more and more packed with diesel trucks, taking over the road one lane at a time.
And sure enough, driving behind all those diesel trucks is a stinky endeavor. The soot coming from the tailpipes of diesel trucks makes a mess of everything – including, especially, the lungs of nearby communities.
So getting to the charger itself and seeing a nice, new, clean parking lot – and one that will stay that way because there’s not going to be a lot of soot-making, oil-dripping pollution machines hanging around all day – was pretty great.
But, as we always mention, it’s going to take a lot more depots like this to electrify everything. This is just one project, and the entire Inland Empire is full of truck depots like this.
So this may be a first of its kind, but it’s going to need to be the first of many in order to finally clean up the air around these parts.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.
To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.
Three big problems holding Europe’s wind power back
Europe’s wind power growth is stalling for three key reasons:
Permitting delays. Many governments haven’t implemented the EU’s new permitting rules, making it harder for projects to move forward.
Grid connection bottlenecks. Over 500 GW(!) of potential wind capacity is stuck in grid connection queues.
Slow electrification. Europe’s economy isn’t electrifying fast enough to drive demand for more renewable energy.
Brussels-based trade association WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson summed it up: “The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power, which means increased competitiveness.”
Permitting: Germany sets the standard
Permitting remains a massive roadblock, despite new EU rules aimed at streamlining the process. In fact, the situation worsened in 2024 in many countries. The bright spot? Germany. By embracing the EU’s permitting rules — with measures like binding deadlines and treating wind energy as a public interest priority — Germany approved a record 15 GW of new onshore wind in 2024. That’s seven times more than five years ago.
If other governments follow Germany’s lead, Europe could unlock the full potential of wind energy and bolster energy security.
Grid connections: a growing crisis
Access to the electricity grid is now the biggest obstacle to deploying wind energy. And it’s not just about long queues — Europe’s grid infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough to keep up with demand. A glaring example is Germany’s 900-megawatt (MW) Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The turbines are ready to go, but the grid connection won’t be in place until 2026.
This issue isn’t isolated. Governments need to accelerate grid expansion if they’re serious about meeting renewable energy targets.
Electrification: falling behind
Wind energy’s growth is also tied to how quickly Europe electrifies its economy. Right now, electricity accounts for just 23% of the EU’s total energy consumption. That needs to jump to 61% by 2050 to align with climate goals. However, electrification efforts in key sectors like transportation, heating, and industry are moving too slowly.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen with crafting an Electrification Action Plan. That can’t come soon enough.
More wind farms awarded, but challenges persist
On a positive note, governments across Europe awarded a record 37 GW of new wind capacity (29 GW in the EU) in 2024. But without faster permitting, better grid connections, and increased electrification, these awards won’t translate into the clean energy-producing wind farms Europe desperately needs.
Investments and corporate interest
Investments in wind energy totaled €31 billion in 2024, financing 19 GW of new capacity. While onshore wind investments remained strong at €24 billion, offshore wind funding saw a dip. Final investment decisions for offshore projects remain challenging due to slow permitting and grid delays.
Corporate consumers continue to show strong interest in wind energy. Half of all electricity contracted under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs.
Read more: Renewables could meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030 – IEA
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the official unveiling of the new Tesla Model Y, Mazda 6e, Aptera solar car production-intent, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The Chinese EV leader is launching a new flagship electric sedan. BYD’s new Han L EV leaked in China on Friday, revealing a potential Tesla Model S Plaid challenger.
What we know about the BYD Han L EV so far
We knew it was coming soon after BYD teased the Han L on social media a few days ago. Now, we are learning more about what to expect.
BYD’s new electric sedan appeared in China’s latest Ministry of Industry and Information Tech (MIIT) filing, a catalog of new vehicles that will soon be sold.
The filing revealed four versions, including two EV and two PHEV models. The Han L EV will be available in single- and dual-motor configurations. With a peak power of 580 kW (777 hp), the single-motor model packs more power than expected.
BYD’s dual-motor Han L gains an additional 230 kW (308 hp) front-mounted motor. As CnEVPost pointed out, the vehicle’s back has a “2.7S” badge, which suggests a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) sprint time of just 2.7 seconds.
To put that into perspective, the Tesla Model S Plaid can accelerate from 0 to 100 km in 2.1 seconds. In China, the Model S Plaid starts at RBM 814,900, or over $110,000. Speaking of Tesla, the EV leader just unveiled its highly anticipated Model Y “Juniper” refresh in China on Thursday. It starts at RMB 263,500 ($36,000).
BYD already sells the Han EV in China, starting at around RMB 200,000. However, the single front motor, with a peak power of 180 kW, is much less potent than the “L” model. The Han EV can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
At 5,050 mm long, 1,960 mm wide, and 1,505 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,970 mm, BYD’s new Han L is roughly the size of the Model Y (4,970 mm long, 1,964 mm wide, 1,445 mm tall, wheelbase of 2,960 mm).
Other than that it will use a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack from BYD’s FinDreams unit, no other battery specs were revealed. Check back soon for the full rundown.
Source: CnEVPost, China MIIT
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway