Moving ahead on national charging network

Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Alternative taken the next step in their Greenlane joint venture to design, develop, install and operate a U.S. nationwide public charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Daimler Truck North America and its joint venture partners are working to design and develop Greenlane, a nationwide public charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. (Photo: Daimler Truck North America)

The companies said that the $650 million joint venture, which is intended to address the need for a publicly available, nationwide electric charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles, has made significant progress since its inception in 2022. Greenlane’s first site will be in Southern California, and multiple additional sites are being acquired along various freight routes. The joint venture team is collaborating on the necessary infrastructure and dedicated software and hardware teams are working on developing a custom, commercial vehicle reservation platform for fleet managers, dispatchers and drivers.

The network of charging sites will be built on critical freight routes along the east and west coasts and in Texas. Where possible, Greenlane will leverage existing infrastructure and amenities while also adding complementary greenfield sites to fulfill anticipated customer demand. Greenlane’s initial focus will be on battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, followed by hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell trucks, with plans to expand access to light-duty vehicles in the future.

“Greenlane is designed to begin to tackle one of the greatest hurdles to the trucking industry’s decarbonization – infrastructure,” said John O’Leary, president and chief executive officer, DTNA. “The nation’s fleets can only transform with the critical catalyst of publicly accessible charging designed to meet the needs for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

“Together with our strong partners, BlackRock and NextEra Energy Resources, we are launching Greenlane to address the unique demands of the industry, support our mutual customers, and provide a dual benefit to all electric vehicle drivers who will be able to utilize this new network. We’re excited to take this next step and look forward to sharing more of Greenlane’s plans in the future.”

“NextEra Energy Resources is excited about the expected impact of our partnership with DTNA and BlackRock, and the critical role that Greenlane will play in the decarbonization of the commercial transportation sector and the broader U.S. economy,” said Rebecca Kujawa, president and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy Resources. “As a publicly available charging network developed to serve medium and heavy-duty commercial fleets, Greenlane serves a critical infrastructure need for its customers utilizing newly developed charging and energy management software solutions, while being powered by renewable energy.”

The companies said that details on Greenlane’s executive leadership and groundbreaking on the first site will be revealed soon.