Multimodal transportation provider Schneider National has completed an electric charging depot at its South El Monte Intermodal Operations Center in Southern California. The depot will power the company’s battery-electric truck fleet, which will include nearly 100 Freightliner eCascadias by year’s end.

The 4,900-square-foot charging site, which was designed and built in cooperation with Black & Veatch, features 16 350 kW dual-plug chargers, allowing the carrier to charge 32 trucks simultaneously. Schneider says its eCascadias will be able to charge up to 80% within 90 minutes.

Schneider’s facility is centrally located within the metro Los Angeles area, adjacent to major highways—numerous customers have facilities within a 50-mile radius. Schneider is already using its new eCascadia electric trucks, each of which has a range of approximately 220 miles, to make deliveries for Frito-Lay and Goodyear.

“Schneider decided to lead the way by building our own depot in South El Monte,” said Schneider CEO Mark Rourke. “It was important to develop onsite charging because it is the most efficient solution to power our growing electric fleet. With the infrastructure deficiency, we found that we needed to collaborate with a wide array of experts to see our vision come to fruition.”

JETSI, an electric truck project jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission, awarded the project $27 million. Additional funding was provided by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Port of Los Angeles and Southern California Edison. Building the depot “would not have been possible without our funding and grant agencies,” said Rourke.

Schneider worked alongside Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) as the eCascadia evolved, piloting a truck for six months in 2019-2020 through Freightliner’s Customer Experience fleet. Feedback from Schneider drivers and the equipment team led to the production of today’s eCascadia.

“We assisted Schneider as they scaled their fleet of Freightliner eCascadias,” said Daimler Truck North America Senior VP David Carson. “They’ve provided our team with vital insight on the opportunities for battery-electric trucks in the goods movement industry. Through the outreach and education being conducted as part of the JETSI project, other fleets can learn from Schneider’s experiences and apply them to future deployment of zero-emission vehicles.”

Source: Schneider