03-04-2025
Here's How Greenlane Hopes to Boost Heavy-Duty Truck Charging
Greenlane Infrastructure teams up with Volvo Trucks to integrate its charging network into the Volvo Open Charge Service.
The station builder, backed by BlackRock Alternatives, Daimler Truck North America, and NextEra Energy Resources, plans a charging corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The I-15 corridor will feature Greenlane charging stations 60 to 90 miles apart, making the route accessible to electric semis, with Barstow and Baker set to open next.
The few battery-electric semitruck models that have gone on sale stateside have largely relied on their own charging infrastructure at their depots.
That's because the vast majority are still tied to their home bases, performing daily runs along a set route, or don't venture far from their chargers at all, operating near ports.
In many ways, the EV cargo truck sector still faces the old chicken-and-egg problem: There aren't enough electric trucks because there aren't enough public charging stations for them. And there aren't enough charging stations because there aren't enough electric trucks.
But in the longer term, charging stations for trucks will have to be built along major cargo routes if any meaningful transition to electric trucks will happen.
Greenlane, which has been working on just such a network and is making progress on a charging corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, is now teaming up with Volvo Trucks to integrate its charging network into the Volvo Open Charge Service.
This move will give owners of Volvo's electric trucks easy access to public charging along with a centralized billing system, in addition to other exclusive benefits.
In many ways this step mirrors the recent era of EV charging for passenger cars, when several different charging standards and station networks first appeared, each with their own billing methods, but didn't necessarily make it easy for non-members to drop by and recharge.
"Our partnership with Volvo is a first-of-its-kind collaboration to deliver public charging solutions tailored to the needs of medium- and heavy-duty fleets," said Patrick Macdonald-King, CEO of Greenlane.
Greenlane says this approach, among others, should ease electric truck fleets' reliance on their own depot charging infrastructure, thereby making EV truck purchases less costly for fleet owners.
It will help if the fleets in question will also be located close to Greenlane's planned routes to take advantage of these benefits. And so far, quite a few of them are located near the ports of LA and Long Beach.
The real game-changer for electric semitrucks on the West Coast will come later this month as Greenlane opens its flagship charging station in Colton, California, with more than 40 chargers for trucks and cars of all sizes.
The I-15 corridor will eventually feature Greenlane charging stations 60 to 90 miles apart, making the route accessible to electric semis, with Barstow and Baker set to open next.
The opening of the charging corridor should represent a major first step in the electrification of truck routes in the Southwest, but it's only the first step. Quite a few other charging routes will be needed in the coming years, with branches toward major cities in Texas being among the possible routes on drawing boards.
Greenlane's efforts come at a crucial time for the nascent electric truck industry, which has seen a series of major debuts over the past 24 months, but still caters almost entirely to fleets that run daily routes.
That's a reflection of just how many charging opportunities do not exist for large electric semis and flatbed trucks at the moment.
Greenlane is a joint venture formed in 2023 by BlackRock Alternatives, Daimler Truck North America, and NextEra Energy Resources.
Will we see more electric trucks aimed at interstate routes by 2030, or will they remain mostly local, making runs between warehouses and stores? Please comment below.
