Greenlane, a joint venture between Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources, and BlackRock, recently hosted a groundbreaking event at Greenlane’s flagship charging site in Colton, California.
The event marked the beginning of the construction of the company’s first commercial EV charging corridor, which will run from the Los Angeles to Las Vegas metropolitan areas, primarily along Interstate 15. The Colton site, at full build, is planned to include more than 60 chargers for heavy-, medium- and light-duty zero-emissions vehicles.
Key stakeholders, community leaders, and joint venture partners took part in a groundbreaking ceremony, highlighting the importance of this project, its positive regional impact, and the commercial trucking industry in the U.S. as a whole.
“The establishment of this flagship charging site in Colton is a testament to the power of collaboration and shared vision,” said John O’Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Truck North America. “We are confident that this project will help to accelerate widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles and drive the future of sustainable transportation by addressing the urgent need for a publicly available, nationwide electric charging infrastructure.”
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The groundbreaking was held the same day Greenlane announced it secured a $15 million grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District under the Carl Moyer Zero-Emission Infrastructure Program. The grant will allow Greenlane to accelerate the development of the Colton site for its commercial EV charging corridor. South Coast AQMD’s grant funds will be used for site design and engineering and charging infrastructure build-out, expediting development timelines to facilitate the opening of the Colton site by the end of 2024.
“The Colton charging site represents a major step forward in reducing emissions along several transportation corridors, while also benefiting the region economically in the long term,” said Greenlane CEO Patrick Macdonald-King. “We are grateful to all of our partners and local leaders in the community for making this vision become reality.”