TA Breaks Ground on Electric-Truck Charging Station

TravelCenters of America has broken ground on what it says will be one of the nation’s first publicly accessible medium-and heavy-duty truck charging stations at its TA Ontario, California, travel center.

TA, part of the bp portfolio, is building the station as a pilot project in collaboration with the California Energy Commission. It will provide DC ultra-fast charging for up to five trucks at one time.

The truck charging station will have four 400kW chargers, to go live in early 2025, with an additional one MW charger to go live in 2026.

The location will also act as an innovation site, allowing bp to test and demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies, including:

• One of the first available megawatt charger systems.
• An integrated microgrid generating renewable power from 250 kilowatts of canopy-mounted solar panels.
• A battery energy storage system for up to 1 megawatt hour of power. 

Strategically Located Electric-Truck Charging Station

“This truck charging station is strategically located at the intersection of two of the nation’s busiest highway interstates and is a prime location to serve early-adopter electric truck fleet operators,” said Debi Boffa, TA CEO, in a news release.

“We are proud to take a leading role in bringing this infrastructure to our fleet customers and other professional drivers.”

BP’s acquisition of TA in 2023 was critical to its transition to an integrated energy company, according to the release.

TA’s strategically located network of highway sites complements bp’s existing predominantly off-highway convenience and mobility business, enabling TA and bp to offer fleets a seamless nationwide service.

“Charging for trucks and passenger cars at TravelCenters of America locations is a key part of bp pulse’s strategy to bring ultra-fast EV charging to major metros and along key highway corridors across the U.S.,” said Sujay Sharma, CEO bp pulse Americas.

“This project further demonstrates bp pulse and TA’s commitment to support fleet customers and is just the beginning of our endeavors in truck charging to build fast and reliable charging infrastructure to support our EV drivers.”

In 2021, TA, the California Energy Commission, and the Electric Power Research Institute started designs for building an electric truck charging station at TA Ontario. The project aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of public-access charging for battery-electric heavy-duty trucks.

Together with bp pulse, TA is planning to develop projects at other Southern California locations, while looking at developing other corridors in the U.S. to support demand for EV truck charging.