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Sacramento, California – In the past three days, California has seen two firsts in zero-emission vehicles: the first solar-powered electric truck charging station and Amazon's largest electric truck fleet in any country.
The two milestones illustrate Governor Gavin Newsom's commitment build more and faster to achieve California's industry-leading climate goals. In recent years, the state has ramped up its work to build a bigger, better electric vehicle (EV) charging network to support both light- and heavy-duty ZEVs.
The work is critical to achieving the state's goals of 100% ZEV new car sales by 2035 and 100% ZEV medium and heavy trucks by 2045. Find more ZEV projects in your community at build.ca.gov.
“California continues to lead the way in setting industry-leading climate goals. No other state has created the kind of environment where Amazon, WattEV and other companies can lead the way on sustainability and take big steps forward, like deploying electric trucks and charging infrastructure. Climate action in California continues to stimulate our economy and create jobs.” — Governor Gavin Newsom
The first solar charging station for EV trucks opens in Bakersfield
California officials helped celebrate the grand opening of WattEV's third and largest electric truck charging station in Bakersfield on Monday. This will be the first electric truck stop in the country with a solar microgrid and battery energy storage system. The truck depot will serve heavy-duty electric trucks with routes connecting the San Joaquin Valley's agricultural sector and growing distribution warehouse region to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and domestic destinations in Southern California and the West.
The deposit was supported by a $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission – part of the Governor's California Climate Commitment.
Liane Randolph, chairman of California Air Resources emphasized the importance of this project in the pursuit of zero-emission trucking and helping meet California's climate goals.
The world's largest fleet of electric Amazon trucks hit the roads of Los Angeles
California officials joined Los Angeles Mayor Bass and partners from the Biden administration and the Port of Los Angeles for the launch Amazon's largest fleet of heavy-duty electric trucks in the world earlier today. The company is introducing nearly 50 heavy-duty electric trucks to Southern California, joining the hundreds of electric vans already deployed in the state.
The heavy-duty trucks are part of the company's first- and middle-mile delivery operations, moving goods from where they are first manufactured to the company's fulfillment network. Amazon has already deployed hundreds of electric vans across the state to handle the final leg of its delivery business: delivering goods from fulfillment centers to people's homes.
“We are proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles to date in California,” said Udit Madan, vice president of Worldwide Amazon Operations. “Heavy-duty trucking is a particularly difficult area to decarbonize, which makes us all the more excited to have these vehicles on the road today. We will use what we learn from deploying these vehicles as we continue to identify and invest in solutions to reduce emissions in our transportation network and impact sustainability in the trucking industry more broadly.”
Press release courtesy of California Governor Gavin Newsom
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