Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Renewable Power announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to lay the foundation for a proposed joint venture to design, develop, install and operate a nationwide, high-performance charging network for medium- and heavy-duty battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the U.S.
With the goal of accelerating the rollout of carbon-neutral freight transportation, start of operations for the future JV is planned for 2022. According to the companies, initial funding is expected to be comprised of approximately $650 million divided equally among the three parties.
Lack of a publicly available, nationwide electric charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles, especially those used for long-haul freight operations, remains one of the biggest barriers for widespread deployment of electric trucks, Daimler Truck noted in a press release. With formation of this JV, the three parties will be pooling their resources to address this challenge. The parties plan to build a network of charging sites on critical freight routes along the east and west coasts and in Texas by 2026, leveraging existing infrastructure and amenities while adding complementary greenfield sites to fulfill anticipated customer demand. First phase is set to begin construction in 2023 according to the parties.
Initial focus will be on battery electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles followed by hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell trucks; the sites will also be available for light-duty vehicles to serve the greater goal of electrifying mobility.
More Daimler Truck electric vehicle developments
This is just the latest in a line of EV-centric announcements from DTNA. Catch up on some of the latest by perusing the links below.
