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WattEV, a startup company based in Bakersfield, California, plans to build a 25-megawatt solar-powered electric-only truck stop.

WattEV intends to use the charging stations with its own fleet of vehicles, but the station will be open to the public.

The 110-acre site sits at the southern end of California’s San Joaquin Valley, between Amazon and Walmart logistics fulfillment centers, according to a WattEV press release.

According to Microgrid Knowledge, the WattEV electric truck stop will start with a 4-MW capacity and expand to a 25-MW capacity, feeding more than 40 charging stalls.

According to the press release, the site will have a solar microgrid with battery energy storage as well as grid electricity from Pacific Gas & Electric.

WattEV has already reserved 50 Tesla Semis and expects to place additional orders with other suppliers, with the aim of seeing 12,000 heavy-duty battery-electric trucks on California roads by the end of the decade. 

“We plan to enable the addition of 12,000 heavy-duty battery-electric trucks to the roads in California by the end of 2030, exceeding existing forecasts,” said WattEV CEO Salim Youssefzadeh. “If it works in California, it could function almost anywhere in the world.”

“We will bring more drivers into more electric trucks faster by focusing on the sales and benefit potential of an electric truck rather than the fixed and variable costs of operating a new or used diesel truck,” Youssefzadeh said. “At the current pace, waiting for the market to mature organically could take more than a decade. By doing things a little differently, we want to accelerate the transition to electric truck transportation.”

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Greenlots, Power Electronics, the Central California Asthma Collaborative, heavy-duty truck manufacturers, PG&E, and others are among the project’s partners.

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