The transportation, intermodality and logistics services of Schneider National Inc. have opened a large-scale electric charging depot in California that will eventually feature a fleet of nearly a hundred battery-powered Class 8 trucks, the company announced Wednesday.
The facility at Schneider’s South El Monte Intermodal Operations Center in Southern California is designed to force its fleet of Freightliner eCascadia battery trucks (BETs), which will be one of the largest zero-emission fleets in North America. So far, the company has agreed to deliver about a third of its planned fleet.
The charging site includes 16 350 kW dual cable dispensers, allowing the carrier to qualify 32 trucks simultaneously. With this level of strength, each of the eCascadia will succeed at 80% of its 220-mile diversity rate in 90 minutes. The facility is in the middle of the Los Angeles metropolitan domain and adjacent to major topways with a maximum consumer density within an 80 km radius.
Already this year, Schneider began transporting deliveries for Frito-Lay North America and Goodyear its new eCascadia fleet, supporting each company’s supply chain sustainability goals.
The South El Monte site was funded through the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI), a task funded through national and local agencies to increase the number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks on the roads.
Funding for 50 of Schneider’s 92 BETs became imaginable through JETSI, the first battery-electric truck allocation jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission, which together awarded $27 million to the allocation. Additional investment was provided through the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee, Port of Los Angeles and Southern California Edison.
Of JETSI’s other 42 outdoor trucks, five are jointly funded through the U. S. EPA’s fiscal year 2018 target air basin grant. 30 trucks are funded through the HVIP.
When totally incompatible with national ones, Schneider’s 92 BETs will have the potential to generate more than 81,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per day, which is equivalent to taking 2400 gasoline-powered cars off the road. Every day, those zero-emission trucks will drive the company’s progress toward its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 7. 5% consistent with one mile through 2025 and 60% consistent with one mile through 2035.
The assignment follows other large-scale cargo services in the state, such as the launch last year by real estate company Prologis of two sites in California that will allow Performance Team, a logistics provider owned by shipping giant Maersk, to qualify up to 38 of its Volvos. VNR Electric Class 8 battery electric trucks.