Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock Renewable Power plan to form a joint venture to deploy a nationwide US charging network for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles. Construction at the first sites is set to begin in 2023. Initial funding is expected to be around $650 million, divided equally among the three parties.

NextEra Energy Resources is an investor in electric infrastructure, and has experience with renewable energy and grid integration. BlackRock Renewable Power operates a renewable energy investment platform that includes investments in over 350 wind and solar projects in 15 countries.

This planned JV is the latest of many partnerships between Daimler Trucks and “top-tier players” in the infrastructure field, including Shell, bp, TotalEnergies, Siemens, ENGIE and EVBox, as well as Traton and Volvo, with which Daimler is working to build a charging network for commercial EVs in Europe.

Daimler sees the lack of a publicly available, nationwide charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles as one of the biggest barriers to widespread deployment of electric trucks. The company and its partners plan to build a network of charging sites on major freight routes along the east and west coasts and in Texas by 2026, leveraging existing infrastructure and amenities while adding greenfield sites to fulfill anticipated customer demand. The initial focus will be on charging stations for battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, followed by hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell trucks. The sites will also be available for light-duty vehicles.

“The planned joint venture with NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock is another building block in our global partnership strategy to accelerate the infrastructure required for carbon-neutral commercial transportation,” said Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum. “Whether in the US or in Europe, these collaborations are essential to successfully tackle the urgent need for zero-emission vehicles.”

Source: Daimler Truck