WattEV, a leading developer of electric truck charging infrastructure, announced at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo that it will expand its battery electric truck fleet from 36 to more than 180 by the end of the year. This expansion follows the opening of five new charging depots within the past month.
“We’ve been using and testing trucks from all major OEMs,” said WattEV CEO Salim Youssefzadeh in the announcement. WattEV will receive the first new batch of 53 zero-emission trucks in June from TEC Equipment, the dealer for Volvo’s VNR Electric.
With an expanded fleet of 89 trucks, WattEV will take delivery of an additional 100 trucks from different OEMs, bringing its total fleet to 189 Class 8 battery-electric trucks, the largest deployment among current electric commercial fleet operators.
WattEV has been leading the industry with the implementation of megawatt Charging (MCS) at all its depots. Youssefzadeh emphasised WattEV’s readiness to order “thousands” of MCS-capable Class 8 trucks to meet the growing demand. “We’re encouraged by manufacturers such as Tesla, which is stepping forward with trucks that have megawatt charging capability,” he said. “Reducing charge time to less than 30 minutes for a 300-mile range will be transformative for electric truck adoption. Our facilities are designed to transition from the current CCS charging standard to the new fast MCS charging.”
The trucks will be deployed via WattEV’s Truck-as-a-Service (TaaS) operations and charged at its expanding rapid-charge depot network, including the world’s largest truck charging depot in Bakersfield with MCS chargers, solar power, and battery storage.
Youssefzadeh stated, “We have shown that the infrastructure for heavy-duty truck transport with megawatt charging is available and can be expanded. With the right trucks, fast-charging capability, and necessary range, market adoption will increase rapidly.”
