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California installs first battery charger for heavy trucks

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Updated Mar 30, 2023

Charge Point EV charger for trucksThe back view of an EV charging station at Truck Net truck stop.San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) on Monday unveiled four public, direct current (DC) fast chargers at a truck stop just north of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry – the first of its kind to open at a truck stop in California to serve medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Installed at Truck Net, a full-service truck stop near the U.S./Mexico border, the 250-kilowatt (kW) chargers can provide up to 250 miles per hour of charging for a passenger car, can charge a typical medium-duty box truck from 20% to 80% in about an hour, and fully charge from empty to 100% in about two hours.

[Related: California will be allowed to set its own emissions limits]

"Air pollution doesn't recognize national boundaries, and to accommodate the transition to zero-emission trucks on both sides of the border, it's critically important that we rapidly scale up the charging network," said California Energy Commissioner (CEC) Patty Monahan. "The California Energy Commission is helping fund this project and others across the state to build a better and more equitable charging infrastructure system for both cars and trucks."

The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the busiest commercial border crossing in California, processing nearly one million commercial trucks and five million privately owned vehicles annually. Idling vehicles waiting to cross the border is a key contributor to air pollution in the San Diego region. While these chargers are designed to provide high power charging for trucks, delivery vans, buses and other large vehicles, they can also be used to charge passenger cars.  

"Reducing air pollution and tailpipe emissions are top priorities for our region and California especially in equity priority communities, and SDG&E is committed to building the infrastructure needed to enable businesses and residents to adopt electric vehicles and other clean technologies," said SDG&E CEO Caroline Winn. "We all share the goal of building a cleaner, more sustainable and healthier future."