Terawatt Infrastructure’s new 7 MW charging hub in Rancho Dominguez supports 125 daily electric truck charges, aligning with California’s 2036 zero-emission mandate.
Terawatt Infrastructure has operationalized a 7 MW electric truck charging hub in Rancho Dominguez, California, featuring 20 high-speed chargers capable of serving 125 trucks daily. The facility supports California’s Advanced Clean Fleets mandate and leverages federal funding, with PepsiCo testing its first 15 electric Semis at the site.
Major charging hub supports California’s zero-emission goals
Terawatt Infrastructure’s new 7 MW electric truck charging facility in Rancho Dominguez became operational in May 2024, strategically located near the busiest U.S. port complex. The hub’s 20 high-speed chargers can simultaneously serve 125 trucks daily, addressing critical infrastructure gaps in drayage electrification. According to the company’s press release, the site was developed using federal Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and private investments.
Policy drivers and industry adoption
The project aligns with California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, which requires 100% zero-emission truck sales by 2036. On April 24, 2024, the Biden administration announced $1.3 billion in funding for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle infrastructure through the EPA’s Clean Ports Program. ‘This facility represents the charging infrastructure backbone needed for large fleets to transition,’ said Terawatt CEO Mike Schenk in an interview with Transport Dive.
PepsiCo as anchor tenant
PepsiCo confirmed in its Q1 2024 earnings call that it’s testing its first 15 electric Semis at Terawatt’s facility, with plans to deploy 75 trucks in Southern California by Q4 2024. The beverage giant’s commitment provides crucial demand certainty for the charging hub’s business model. ‘Without reliable charging infrastructure, fleet operators can’t scale their EV deployments,’ noted NACFE director Rick Mihelic in their May 2024 report on charging gaps.
California’s recent $20 million allocation on May 15 under AB 2061 specifically targets heavy-duty charging stations near ports, while updated NEVI guidelines from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (released May 20) streamline permitting for high-capacity sites. These policy developments create favorable conditions for replicating Terawatt’s model elsewhere.
Historically, freight electrification faced similar infrastructure challenges as early passenger EV adoption. The 2012 introduction of Tesla’s Supercharger network demonstrated how strategic charging placement enables long-distance travel. For heavy trucks, the scale is exponentially greater – a single semi requires as much power as 50-100 passenger vehicles. Previous attempts at truck electrification, like the short-lived Nikola Motor hydrogen trucks, faltered partly due to infrastructure limitations.
The transportation sector’s decarbonization follows patterns seen in other industries. Just as renewable energy projects initially relied on government incentives before achieving grid parity, Terawatt’s public-private funding model mirrors solar energy’s growth trajectory in the 2010s. With NACFE projecting need for 50,000+ electric trucks by 2027, such charging hubs must triple in density within three years to meet demand.
