California Dreamin’ of Transportation Electrification

Source: FleetOwner

What does it take to charge 100 battery-electric vehicles?

As it turns out, a lot—many details, involving risk and commitments by freight haulers to buy BEVs with brand-new technology from OEMs that lead in electrification, much planning by these fleets and early outreach to and months-long scheduling with utilities to design and install the charging infrastructure necessary to support these all-electric vehicles. The Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative (JETSI), a conglomeration of freight transportation companies in partnership with utilities Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), San Diego Gas and Electric (SDGE), and Southern California Edison (SCE) announced in August 2021—is leading all this and showing fleets beyond just those participating in SoCal how electrification can happen.

The participants in JETSI, including representatives from the utilities and $3 billion third-party logistics company NFI Industries, gathered for a webinar on Jan. 26 co-sponsored by Advanced Clean Tech News to talk about the inner workings and goals of Southern California’s JETSI, which will be the largest single deployment of Class 8 BEVs to date in North America.

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Funding Partners

JETSI is jointly financed by California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission ($26.98 million), MSRC ($8 million), and South Coast AQMD ($5.4 million), with an additional $21.7 million from Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Southern California Edison, NFI, and Schneider. JETSI is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment, particularly in disadvantaged communities.