Plans to turn the Eastern Seaboard’s I-95 into a medium- and heavy-duty electric truck charging corridor have officially kicked off.

I-95’s future as an electric truck corridor

Clean transportation nonprofit CALSTART and utility National Grid have each been given $1.2 million US Department of Energy grants to lay the foundation to turn I-95, one of the US’s most heavily traveled freight routes, into a zero-emissions freight corridor.

CALSTART and National Grid will each develop 20-year demand forecasts after determining what locations, contributors, and processes will be needed to electrify the longest north-south interstate in the US. CALSTART is going to focus on the I-95 thoroughfare between Georgia and New Jersey, and National Grid will turn its attention to the I-95 corridor between New Jersey and Maine. (National Grid will also look at other heavy trucking corridors in the Northeast, such as I-90 and the ports of New York and New Jersey.)

The two organizations will collaborate during the two-year initiative to create a roadmap for states, utilities, businesses, and local areas to plan and build an electric truck charging network across 15 states. Both will also seek input from fleet operators, the EV charging industry, utilities, and local communities.

Bart Franey, National Grid’s vice president of clean energy development in New York, said that the DOE-funded projects will help bring the right stakeholders together in order to chart a clear course for the electric truck I-95 corridor:

Readying our grid infrastructure for electric trucks will require careful planning and close collaboration across state lines.

John Boesel, president and CEO of CALSTART, added:

The successful implementation of [the I-95 corridor] project will put to rest the unfounded concerns of zero-emission opponents by demonstrating that this technology is both economically feasible and a benefit to all.

Electrek’s Take

Seeing how the transportation sector generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the US by far, making a plan to electrify all medium- and heavy-duty trucks in the US – and provide those freight movers with DC fast charging on the highways they drive – is vital.

If all vested parties know that the electric truck infrastructure is coming, then everyone, from electric truck manufacturers to shipping companies, can begin to plan accordingly and get on board.

Read more: A $2-3B battery factory for electric trucks is coming to the US

Photo: “I-95 North – Welcome to New Jersey Sign” by formulanone is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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