Greenlane Targets Interstate 10 for Next Charging Corridor
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Greenlane plans to establish a second commercial electric vehicle charging corridor connecting Southern California to Phoenix via Interstate 10, the charging infrastructure developer said Aug. 12.
When the corridor will be operational is unclear. A representative for Santa Monica, Calif.-based Greenlane — a joint venture led by Daimler Truck North America, the largest medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturer in the U.S. — said those details were not being made public yet.
The second corridor includes the recently opened inaugural charging facility in Colton, Calif., as well as locations to be developed in Blythe, Calif., and the greater Phoenix area. The corridor is one of several planned by Greenlane, which hopes to develop a nationwide network of commercial charging facilities for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric trucks.
Greenlane’s first corridor runs along Interstate 15 in Southern California, with the next facilities set to open in Long Beach, Barstow and Baker, Calif. Ideally, the developer said, there will be sites every 60 to 90 miles along a stretch of blacktop Greenlane eventually expects to run for 280 miles into southern Nevada.
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Map showing the southwest U.S., with Interstate 10 from Phoenix to Los Angeles and Interstate 15 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles visible. (Google Maps)
Expansion of Greenlane’s network will be anchored by partnerships with truck manufacturer Windrose and regional-haul carrier Nevoya, which runs only battery-electric trucks.
Greenlane said Windrose will use the Colton facility as a base for pilot programs and recently carried out successful single-charge journeys from Colton, near the major Southern California warehousing hub of the Inland Empire, to Phoenix and Las Vegas. The nearly 300-mile trip to Phoenix was carried out with a gross combined weight rating of 74,420 pounds.
Electric trucks and buses charging at Greenlane's Colton, Calif., charging facility. (Greenlane Infrastructure via LinkedIn)
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The JV added that Windrose plans to manufacture 2,000 electric trucks in 2026 and scale up to 10,000 in 2027 globally.
Windrose sources many of its components from China but plans to build assembly plants around the globe.
In May, Windrose CEO Wen Han told Transport Topics that assembly of its R700 Class 8 tractors would be underway in Huntington Beach, Calif., and a second U.S. assembly facility location picked by July 4.
TT reached out to Windrose multiple times in recent weeks to confirm whether the assembly facility was up and running but received no response.
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The Antwerp, Belgium-based company also is working on setting up assembly facilities in Valenciennes in northeastern France as well as China and Australia.
JoyRide Logistics was announced as Windrose’s first U.S. customer on April 14.
Chandler, Ariz.-based regional-haul carrier JoyRide had no zero-emission tractors before teaming up with Windrose, a senior executive told TT in May.
The Colton development will not be anchored by either of DTNA’s Class 8 truck brands — Freightliner or Western Star.
Freightliner sells two battery-electric trucks, the eCascadia tractor and eM2 medium-duty truck.
DTNA is in the process of temporarily laying off around 2,000 employees at five sites as weak demand for diesel and battery-electric trucks persists.
Among those employees are staff at the company’s Portland, Ore., manufacturing plant. The Portland plant builds the eCascadia and eM2 trucks as well as Western Star’s X-Series lineup.
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Greenlane and Windrose, meanwhile, are teaming up with Nevoya, which intends to use Windrose trucks on the JV’s I-15 and I-10 corridors, with the Colton facility acting as a base for charging and driver support.
Nevoya was announced as the first commercial fleet customer for Colton in April.
“Greenlane’s I-10 charging network creates the infrastructure breakthrough that electric trucking needs — and Nevoya is positioned to capitalize on it,” Nevoya Chief Commercial Officer John Verdon said.
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“As we launch operations on the I-10, this partnership allows us to demonstrate that longhaul electric trucking is not just possible — it’s practical, scalable and the future of freight,” he added.
Nevoya raised $9.3 million in seed financing in July to bolster expansion plans. The carrier, which runs routes in California and Texas, plans to use the funds for expanding into new corridors and markets plus further development of its transportation management system.
Over the coming 12 months, Nevoya intends to scale up to 100 battery-electric trucks and expand across Northern and Southern California, Texas, and Arizona, a spokeswoman told TT in July.
