Truck electrification efforts are moving forward with a charging depot planned to open next year near Port Newark and a series of charging stations across the Garden State as part of a multi-state effort along the mid-Atlantic region.
A panel of three speakers from the public and private sectors updated members of the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee (FIC) at its October 21 meeting on the next stages of commercial truck electrification.
“We want to accelerate the transition to electric transportation for all types of fleet operators,” Nicholas Raspanti, Senior Director of Sales and Port Initiatives at
Zeem Solutions, with a goal of trying to get cost parity with diesel operations. Zeem Solutions designs, builds, and operates charging depots for commercial fleet operators in or near major transportation centers, like airports and seaports, and warehousing and distribution centers.
“Ports are an intersection of all types of transportation,” said Raspanti. “We’re really just a conduit to electric mobility for these fleet operators.”
The range and capability of electrification at present is appropriate for short-haul distribution, or anything within 300 miles of port gateways, Raspanti said. The port in New York-New Jersey is a good candidate for electrification because about 80 percent of cargo stays fairly close to the port, he said. At that range, the trucks approach “cost parity” with diesel-powered vehicles.
Zeem opened a depot near Los Angeles Airport in December 2021 that features six dual port chargers, dispensing some 3.6 million Kwh to fuel 98,000 charging sessions – or the equivalent carbon dioxide savings of heating about 270 homes annually.
A depot to open by the end of next year near Port Newark at the former Essex generation station is among 14 that Zeem has planned in the next 36 months around the nation.
Pip Decker spent 17 years developing wind and solar projects before he founded
Current Trucking, which leases electric trucks to operators and installs charging infrastructure. He helped to develop the first large-scale wind farms in upstate New York 20 years ago and the largest wind farm in Jamaica that’s now been operating for a decade.
“Zero emission freight is that next future,” he said. “Our goal is to be a steering wheel to help every operator, planning agency, and utility service provider … to get this off the ground.”
Newark-based International Motor Freight (IMF) has 100 operating Class 8 semis and will be one of the largest leaders in electric vehicles, ultimately with 20 electric semis in the Newark area. Current is in the process of installing charging infrastructure at IMF’s facility, a project that is partly funded with federal dollars awarded to IMF through NJTPA’s Transportation Clear Air Measures (TCAM) Program.
NJTPA projects and policies supporting electrification “translate into real opportunity on the ground,” Decker told committee members.
“The environmental offset is significant,” Decker said, noting that the Jamaica project offset 500,000 barrels of oil being burned in that country every year.
Boosting these private sector efforts, a Clean Corridor Coalition led by New Jersey and including the states of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland has been working on reducing emissions from transportation. It has established complementary rules, policies or incentive programs that have kickstarted the electrification industry, according to Peg Hanna, Director – Climate Change Mitigation and Monitoring at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The Coalition seeks to create a comprehensive interstate charging corridor that would be used primarily by local delivery trucks in the short term because that’s what’s most prevalent in electric trucking market now, Hanna said. As the industry builds out and more Class 7 and Class 8 trucks become available, these chargers would be used by regional long-haul trucks.
The corridor primarily follows I-95 but in North Jersey it includes roads that feed into I-95 or the port and potentially going across to New York City. The federal government designated the North Jersey area as a Phase 1 priority for electrifying freight network throughout the country.
On Oct. 23, the
Coalition was awarded $250 million in federal funds, with most going to build out truck charging infrastructure sites, with some money dedicated toward technical assistance for site hosts once its awarded.
New Jersey would have nine charging depots at a cost of $84 million among 24 throughout the northeast region that would feature 450 charging ports.
Stations would be privately owned and operated, Hanna said. It’s still unclear how many would use the IMF model with charging on site versus the Zeem model, with access to many fleets in one hub location that’s more of a “quasi-public” setting.
The entire project is expected to span about five years, Hanna said. Because of the need for huge amounts of power, sites with some power already or ones that can easily get power will be prioritized. “I don’t think there’s anyone with rose-colored glasses on when it comes to the amount of power needed to accommodate these initiatives,” she said. “Between the truck electrification, building electrification, and data centers, the amount of power is incredible.”
A recording of the
October 21 FIC meeting is available on the NJTPA YouTube channnel.