Daimler Truck JV breaks ground on first charging station for electric CVs in California

Greenlane, a joint venture between Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and BlackRock, broke ground on Greenlane's first charging site in Colton, California.

This marks the start of construction of the company's first commercial charging corridor , which will stretch essentially from the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada along Interstate Highway 15. When fully built out, the Colton site is expected to include more than 60 charging points for heavy-, medium- and light-duty zero-emission commercial vehicles.

Key stakeholders, community leaders and the joint venture partners, including John O'Leary, President and CEO of Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) and Rakesh Aneja, Head of eMobility at DTNA, attended the ceremony to highlight the importance of this project, its positive impact for the region and its significance for the transportation industry in the United States.

"The establishment of this first charging site in Colton is a testament to the power of a shared vision and successful collaboration," said John O'Leary, President and CEO of Daimler Truck North America. "We are confident that this project will help accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles and advance the future of sustainable mobility by addressing the urgent need for publicly accessible, nationwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure."

The groundbreaking took place on the same day (September 9) that Greenlane announced it had received a $15 million grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) under the Carl Moyer Zero-Emission Infrastructure program. The grant will enable Greenlane to accelerate the development of the Colton site for its commercial EV charging corridor. The South Coast AQMD funding specifically provided for the Colton site will be used for site planning and engineering and charging infrastructure expansion to accelerate development timelines and enable the site to open by the end of 2024.

"The Colton charging site represents an important step toward reducing emissions along multiple transportation corridors and will also provide long-term economic benefits to the region," said Greenlane CEO Patrick Macdonald-King.

Greenlane and its joint venture partners are developing a nationwide network of commercial charging infrastructure in the United States. Starting with the electrification of heavy-duty, medium-duty and light-duty vehicles, the charging sites will also serve customers with battery-electric passenger vehicles and light-duty vehicle fleets. Greenlane also plans to offer hydrogen refueling stations for commercial vehicles in the near future.