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WattEV to Build First U.S. Megawatt Electric Truck Stop

WattEV’s 110-acre electric truck stop in California will include 4-megawatt capability, and eventually grow to 25-MW feeding more than 40 charging bays.

May 10, 2021
WattEV to Build First U.S. Megawatt Electric Truck Stop

The 110-acre truck stop, positioned near logistics fulfillment centers run by Amazon and Walmart in Bakersfield, California, will feature a solar micro-grid with battery storage, plus grid energy from PG&E.

Rendering: WattEV

1 min to read


An electric-vehicle infrastructure company has plans to build the first 25-megawatt, solar-powered, electric-only public truck stop in the U.S. to serve electric truck transport in California.

WattEV is building an electric truck stop at a heavily truck-trafficked highway intersection in Bakersfield, located at the southern end of California’s San Joaquin Valley. The 110-acre truck stop, positioned near logistics fulfillment centers run by Amazon and Walmart, will feature a solar micro-grid with battery storage, plus grid energy from Pacific Gas & Electric.

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Partners in the project include the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Greenlots, Power Electronics, the Central California Asthma Collaborative, heavy-duty truck makers, PG&E and others. Initial output from the WattEV electric truck stop will include 4-megawatt (MW) capability, eventually growing to 25-MW feeding more than 40 charging bays.

WattEV also has developed a business model for the truck transport industry, labeled Trucks as a Service (TaaS), that opens the transition path for transporters to use battery-electric trucks.

“We aim 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 in a press release. “If it works in California, it’ll work just about anywhere in the country.”

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WattEV has already reserved its first 50 Tesla Semis and plans to place more orders with other OEMs.

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