BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — As California looks to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, there has been a lot of talk about getting more electric vehicles on the road. One company, WattEV, is trying to help spark that change within the trucking industry.
WattEV is hoping to make statewide overland trucking possible for electric semi trucks by placing industrial-scale charging facilities in key places. For the route between Long Beach and Sacramento, one of those key places is Bakersfield.
According to WattEV CEO Salim Youssefzadeh, the company hopes to have the charging facilities open by the end of 2023.
"We are building our trucking charging infrastructure starting in strategic locations such as the Bakersfield site, and also Long Beach, which is already online," said Youssefzadeh. "But also identifying locations close to distribution centers and on and off major highways and intersections, taking us all the way to the border of Northern California."
In addition to Bakersfield, Youssefzadeh says charging facilities in Gardena and San Bernardino are also set to open by the end of this year, with additional locations planned for 2025. He adds the Bakersfield facility plays a big role in this plan and says the truck stop will resemble a traditional truck stop in many ways.
"100 acres is going to be dedicated to solar, and the rest will be a traditional truck stop rest area where we've got a building for the amenities as well as overnight parking facilities and larger passthrough charging," said Youssefzadeh.
Youssefzadeh says that WattEV is hoping to change the minds of those in the trucking industry who don't believe it can be electrified. People like Jazmin Mendez's father, who has been a long-time truck driver.
"I just got off the phone with my father and he was saying he was hesitant because it's a little bit of a learning curve. He's been used to driving different semi trucks for 20-some years," said Mendez.
In addition to building the charging stations, WattEV also leases electric trucks to shippers and carriers.
"We currently have 14 trucks. 24 Nikola trucks that we've taken delivery of, and another 87 Volvos that are on order and expected to start delivering in the August timeframe at the end of the year. We hope to grow our fleet well beyond the initial 110-plus trucks that we have," said Youssefzadeh.
Youssefzadeh says WattEV's current trucks have a roughly 280-mile range on them and can travel from their already-functional Long Beach charging station to the Bakersfield station. He adds that new technology will allow charge time to be cut down.
"Go toward several hundred [miles] with the current technology of CCS, but we are also heavily moving the market towards megawatt charging on these trucks," said Youssefzadeh. "This is where you go to the traditional 2 to 3 hours charge time on the classic truck you see today down to about 30 to 45 minutes."
For more information about WattEV and their plans for electrifying overland shipping in California, please visit their website.
