NACFE: Updated Guidance on Electric Truck Charging Infrastructure

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and RMI have released a new Guidance Report, Charging Forward with Electric Trucks. The focus of this second-generation report is on the scaling of commercial battery electric trucks. Along with the chargers, the information includes the interrelated system of vehicles, duty cycles, chargers, and electric utilities in the charging infrastructure framework. The report summarizes six critical considerations for infrastructure guidance, including electric trucks and chargers working together, partnering with utilities, use and design costs, transitioning staff, and more. 

“While there are a great many factors that impact the scaling of electric vehicles for hauling freight, careful planning and collaboration will help make the process go more smoothly,” says Mike Roeth, NACFE’s executive director. “The guidance in this report should give fleets confidence to move forward with adding more electric vehicles to their operations.”

“Charging infrastructure is a combination of:

• Hardware, including the number of charger plugs, their power levels, and the equipment to deliver that electricity, and
• Rigorous management, generally via software, of overall electricity demand and cost to provide the necessary amount of charge so the trucks can do their jobs at the lowest cost.”

Read the report summary