Daimler Trucks North America and Portland General Electric have announced the co-development of a large public charging site for medium- and heavy-duty commercial EVs.

The facility, to be called Electric Island, is now under construction near Daimler Trucks headquarters in Portland. It’s designed to support up to 9 charging stations with charging levels of up to one megawatt by spring of 2021. Plans for more chargers, on-site energy storage, solar power generation, and a product and technology showcase building are currently being finalized.

Electric Island will serve as a test bed that will inform both companies’ EV efforts by studying the future of heavy-duty charging. Areas to be investigated include: the integration of heavy-duty charging technology into PGE’s Smart Grid; V2G technologies; second-life use of Daimler’s battery packs; onsite energy generation; and information technology opportunities in fleet and energy management.

“With the plan to expand electric vehicle charging in Portland to support not only our EV charging needs, but those of other drivers in the area, we are paving the way to a CO₂-neutral future,” said Roger Nielsen, CEO of Daimler Trucks North America. “As the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles, we can accelerate this shift and are excited to address, holistically, the complete EV ecosystem.”

Source: Daimler Trucks North America