NEW YORK — Clean transportation technology group CALSTART is launching a new project aimed at investing in commercial medium-and heavy-duty (MHD) zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure along I-95, one of the nation’s most heavily traveled freight routes.
The East Coast Commercial ZEV Corridor project will incorporate input from fleet operators, the charging and fueling industry, utilities and communities to determine the most equitable and efficient path forward to support MHD ZEV deployment, according to a news release.
Funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE), the two-year initiative will define the locations, contributors and processes “that will result in an unprecedented, advanced technology and zero-emission freight corridor up and down the Eastern seaboard,” the news release stated. “The CALSTART-led ZEV Corridor project will transform the I-95 thoroughfare from New Jersey to Georgia into a model of MHD ZEV efficiency, which will significantly improve the health and well-being of both drivers and the communities in and around the routes traveled through, as well as power improvements and expansion across the industries that produce MHD ZEVs and their supporting infrastructure.”
CALSTART officials say they have worked for many decades with the government, vehicle and infrastructure manufacturers and fleets to put into place clean-air regulations and to help create the clean transportation industry necessary to meet them.
“The I-95 Corridor project, once completed, will put into practice the integration of zero-emission vehicles, infrastructure, and addressing climate-change issues that has been carried out in other areas of the country,” said John Boesel, president and CEO of CALSTART. “The successful implementation of this 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.”
Those opposed to electrification of the nation’s freightways have identified the cost and time required to build out the required infrastructure as prohibitive factors.
“CALSTART has already thought of that issue and come up with a solution for that issue,” the news release stated. “Its recently released report, Phasing in U.S. Charging Infrastructure, CALSTART details an efficient, cost-effective and relatively rapid buildout of that essential infrastructure, describing a phased-in approach that will keep up pace with the MHD ZEV transition. The phased-in approach, the rapidly expanding commercial availability of versatile MHD ZEVs, and CALSTART’s East Coast Commercial ZEV Corridor project will all work together to realize advanced, clean and quiet commercial trucking operations along the Atlantic seaboard.”
CALSTART officials say their study has support from Momentum, TETC/I-95 Corridor Coalition, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Georgetown Climate Center and Clean Cities Coalitions from each state along the corridor.
A second study, led by National Grid with a similar DOE grant, focuses on the I-95 corridor from Maine to New Jersey.
“Readying our grid infrastructure for electric trucks will require careful planning and close collaboration across state lines,” said Bart Franey, National Grid’s vice president of Clean Energy Development in New York. “This DOE grant award brings the right stakeholders into the same room to chart a clear course for electric truck charging across the Northeast. This roadmap will inform efforts by states, utilities, and the industry leaders to create a seamless truck charging network across the region.”
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