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This Truck Station Plans to Pump 25 MW of Power to E-Trucks

When you think about EVs, the first thing that comes to mind is usually a Tesla model or a Nissan Leaf. And while the electrification of passenger vehicles is a little further down the line, e-trucks are starting to catch up. Startup company WattEV is already planning to a construct a solar-powered charging station to speed up the adoption of e-trucks.
Startup WattEV plans to build the first megawatt e-truck stop in Bakersfield, California 1 photo
Photo: WattEV
The charging station for electric trucks will open in Bakersfield, California, and will be capable of supplying 25 megawatts (MW) of power fed by large solar panels. According to WattEV, initially, the power will be limited to 4 MW, but over time, the stations will be capable of supplying more than 40 charging bays.

It will be a pretty big truck stop, measuring 110 acres in size (445,154 square meters). The area was also strategically chosen because of the heavy traffic that runs between the Central Valley and Southern California. It will be positioned near Amazon and Walmart logistics fulfillment sites and will have a solar micro-grid with battery storage, as well as PG&E grid energy.

WattEV will open the station to the public, allowing any e-truck in need of recharging to use it. The project also plans to include a Trucks as a Service (TaaS) new business model to speed up the transition to battery-electric trucks.

Even if it's in the prototype stage, the startup has already reserved 50 units of Tesla Semis to create its own transport fleet, and aims to increase the order with other manufacturers. Its ambitious goal is to place 12,000 heavy-duty electric trucks on California's roads by the end of 2030, which we'll have yet to see if it's going to be achieved.

While this would be the first electric charging station for heavy-duty trucks, it's not the first one for EVs announced along highways in central California. Just four months ago, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) introduced 22 new EV fast chargers in 9 locations. The plan named The West Coast Electric Highway (WCEH) proposes an extensive network of EV charging stations from British Columbia to the California-Mexico border.
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About the author: Florina Spînu
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Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature.
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