Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) and Portland General Electric (PGE) have opened what the companies claim is the first-of-its-kind heavy-duty electric truck charging site called Electric Island.

The goal of the heavy-duty charging station is to accelerate the development, testing and deployment of zero emissions commercial vehicles such as new vehicles being developed by numerous startups as well as traditional OEMs in the automotive industry such as DTNA.

Electric Island opened with eight vehicle charging stations, which are intended for public use, for the charging of electric cars, buses, box vans and semi-trucks. The site is available for the charging of EVs for all shapes and sizes and will serve as an innovation center for both PGE and DTNA to study energy management, charger use and performance.

The heavy-duty charging station is located across the street from DTNA headquarters and represents the first location specifically designed for medium- and heavy-duty trucks aligned to the blueprint of the West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative (WCCTCI), a collaboration between nine electric utilizes and two government agencies to electrify 1,300 miles across the three West Coast states.

The chargers can be swapped to fit new charger technologies of the future including planned 1 MW plus chargers when they are released. Additional plans for future on-site energy storage, solar power generation and product and technology showcases are under development.

The Electric Island will also study the future of heavy-duty charging in three ways. First, the use of chargers for power delivery of up to more than 1 MW and to develop best practices for future deployments. Second, integration of heavy-duty charging technologies such as vehicle-to-grid technologies, second-life use of Daimler’s battery packs and onsite energy generation. Lastly, testing information opportunities such as fleet and energy management by captive solutions and services.