With a plan to electrify the heavy-duty transport industry, WattEV Inc. will be building the nation’s first public solar-powered electric truck stop here in Bakersfield, California.
WattEV Inc. is a Los Angeles-based, innovative transport technology company dedicated to electrifying the heavy-duty transport industry. With plans to deploy a network of 21st Century Trucks stops along the Interstate 5 and Highway 99 trucking corridors throughout the San Joaquin Valley and beyond, the company received a $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) in order to build the truck stop. Truck charging is expected to begin in late 2022 and WattEV will be holding a ground-breaking ceremony on December 16.
The truck stop will be built on Hwy-65 just one mile away from the Amazon fulfillment center.
“The electric truck stop in Bakersfield is the first step toward our commitment to help build the charging infrastructure network necessary to accelerate the heavy-duty trucking sector’s transition to electric drive and to get more heavy duty electric trucks on the road in California as quickly as possible,” said Salim Youssefzadeh, Chief Executive Officer of Watt EV In., to GlobeNewswire.
The truck stop will serve only electric trucks and will consist of 110 acres of solar panels to produce clean energy, 40 charging ports for electric trucks, and second-life (recycled) batteries on site to store energy and keep prices affordable.
Upon completion of the truck stop, trucks will be available to fleets or individual contractors through a usage-based software platform. In order to quickly build customers, WattEV will deploy a growing fleet of Class 8 heavy-duty zero-emission trucks.
Trucks will be available for defined routes and fees for trucks will be all-inclusive of charging, maintenance, and insurance. Additionally, truck users are guaranteed availability and profitability.
WattEV’s goal for this project is to have one GW of charging capacity and 12,000 trucks in service by 2030 in California. When completed at full scale, the truck stop will be able to charge 200 trucks per day while drawing electricity primarily from its adjacent 100-acre solar farm and on-site battery storage.
WattEV and the project’s partners are inviting community members and small trucking businesses to attend a public community meeting at the Martin Luther King Community Center to learn more about the project from its organizers. The meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 9.
Dinner will be provided to those who attend the public community and both Spanish translation and childcare services will be provided to those who need it.
Additional questions can be answered by Janet Herrera, Community Health Worker at the Central California Asthma Collaborative, at (559) 417-0429 or email Janet.Herrera@centralcalasthma.org.
