As the switch to electric mobility finds its stride, EV charging infrastructure is now becoming a top priority for states.
In recent years both passenger and fleet vehicle manufacturers have begun to offer EV alternatives to their traditional products. While these vehicles provide cost-saving benefits to their users, infrastructure now needs to be put in place to further support this transition. And yes, location matters, especially for the nation’s logistics industry.
In January 2024, EV charging infrastructure company TeraWatt Infrastructure and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) announced that a joint application for an electric corridor project along I-10 was selected to receive $63.8 million in federal funding.
This award, available through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program, was the largest funding awarded in the first round of the program. While TeraWatt’s award is specific to the New Mexico region, the Federal Highway Administration announced awards to a total of 47 projects nationwide.
TeraWatt initially announced plans to build along the I-10 corridor in 2022. The project focuses on high-powered charging centers placed approximately 150 miles apart catering to heavy-duty trucks traveling from the Port of Long Beach in California to the El Paso, Texas, region.
TerraWatt envisions these facilities spread across California, Arizona and New Mexico. So far the company shows seven stations in California; one each in Goodyear and Tucson, Arizona; and the two in New Mexico. The company says it has 14 sites in development and plans to be bringing 20 megawatts of power to charging customers in 2024. Two of the California sites are in the Agua Mansa Industrial Corridor and in Fontana near the I-10 and I-15 interchange. At full build, those two sites alone will jointly provide over 40 megawatts of power, TerraWatt says, supporting up to 500 trucks per day.
In February, the company launched a temporary charging solution for heavy-duty fleets in Commerce near downtown Los Angeles, “one of the world’s largest intermodal freight hubs and a key destination for drayage operators bringing containers to and from railyards.” While the interim solution offers kW of charging capacity for up to 35 daily charges, by early 2025 “the site will reopen as a 10-MW facility with 21 charging stalls and a driver amenities building,” the company says.
The two I-10 charging locations in New Mexico will be constructed around 134 miles apart in Lordsburg and Vado. Each station will provide nine pull-through stalls and can support charging around 300 trucks per day.
“We are grateful for our strong partnership with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, who selected TeraWatt as its project partner to deliver this key infrastructure project,” said TeraWatt CEO and Co-Founder Neha Palmer. “Together, we are leveraging combined public-private expertise and federal funding to accelerate the development of heavy-duty charging infrastructure along the I-10 corridor. This grant award is one of many actions taken by the Biden Administration to accelerate the transition to zero-emission transportation and will enable an accelerated buildout of the I-10 corridor to meet growing demand for charging.”
