Where alt-fuel infrastructure stands today: EV charging infrastructure

Transitioning trucking to a zero-emission future is challenging. OEMs are scaling up ZE production and developing new powertrains running on various fuel sources. But building out that fueling infrastructure has lagged and proved to be more difficult than some envisioned.

“There are people investing in the vehicle space … Find somebody that’s doing something in the distribution space,” Dave Hull, regional VP of Bosch Rexroth, noted at an industry event in April. 

It’s that age-old question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” In the transportation sector, the question has now become, “Which comes first, the ZEV or the infrastructure?” 

When Henry Ford started selling automobiles in the early 1900s, there were no gas stations. Gasoline demand sparked fueling infrastructure that has prospered for more than a century. 

While more battery electric vehicles and alternative-fuel vehicles can be seen on the roads today, the vehicles have only been around for a short while. Yet, industry stakeholders are comparing EV and alternative fuel infrastructure to something that has been around longer than anyone alive remembers.

You can’t blame fleet owners who are skeptical about keeping ZE equipment running if they don’t know where or how long it will take to refuel because generations of truck drivers have always just been a highway exit away from their next tankful of diesel.

But alternative fuel providers and ZE truck and van options are accelerating. With major OEMs setting a 2040 goal to be net-zero in North America, the traditional/alternative fuel infrastructure imbalance could dissipate within years. 

FleetOwner takes a look at where the leading alt-fuel infrastructure for commercial fleets stands in the U.S., starting first with BEV charging infrastructure. 

EV charging infrastructure 

There are nearly 64,000 level 2 and direct-current, fast-charging public charging stations across the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. While that sounds like a significant number, only about 10,000 of those public charging stations are equipped with DC fast chargers, which are necessary for fleets that need a quick charge. Time is money.

Public fleet charging is less developed, yet, depending on location, fleets might find public charging options—even those that operate heavy-duty Class 7 and 8 vehicles. 

See also: Scaling charging infrastructure: Where to begin