Daimler Trucks North American is teaming up with Portland General Electric to development a large public charging site for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. The company says “Electric Island” will help accelerate the development, testing, and deployment of zero emissions (tank-to-wheel) commercial vehicles.
The site is scheduled to be completed by spring and is being built near DTNA headquarters in Portland. It is designed to support up to nine vehicle charging stations with charging levels of up to about one megawatt. Electric Island will provide DTNA, PGE, and the public the opportunity to charge light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. Plans for more chargers, on-site energy storage, solar power generation, and a product and technology showcase building are currently being finalized.
“In cooperation with PGE, and with the plan to expand electric vehicle charging right here in Portland to support not only our EV charging needs, but those of other drivers in the area, we are paving the way to a brighter, cleaner CO2-neutral future,” said Roger Nielsen, president/CEO of DTNA in a prepared statement. “As the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles, we can accelerate this shift and are excited to address, holistically, the complete EV ecosystem.”
Said Maria Pope, president/CEO of PGE, in a statement:
“Oregon's transportation future is electric, and with global leaders like Daimler Trucks North America right here in Portland, we have the opportunity to accelerate a clean energy transition. We are excited to launch this cutting-edge partnership with DTNA, demonstrating what is possible when utilities and the automotive industry collaborate and innovate.”
The company’s plan to use Electric Island for intelligence for DTNA’s work in commercial electric vehicle development and PGE’s work in meeting customer charging needs. The project will enable the studying of:
Use of vehicle chargers featuring power delivery of up to over one megawatt (over 4 times faster than today’s fastest light-duty vehicle chargers), enabling PGE and DTNA to develop best practices for cost-effective future deployments;
Integration of heavy-duty charging technology into PGE’s Smart Grid, such as vehicle-to- grid technologies, second-life use of Daimler’s battery packs, and onsite energy generation; and
Testing information technology opportunities like fleet and energy management by captive solutions and services.
Source: DTNA
