Electric vehicle charging software and solutions provider Greenlots has announced a collaboration with Volvo Trucks to deploy electric truck charging infrastructure for trucks operating out of warehouses in Southern California. This project is the first to get off the ground thanks to a public-private partnership with the California Air Resources Board, which awarded $44.8 million to the South Coast Air Quality Management District for Volvo’s Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions, or LIGHTS, project.

“The benefits of electrifying medium- and heavy-duty fleets are enormous, but so are the power requirements to charge these large vehicles,” said Brett Hauser, CEO of Greenlots.

Greenlots will outfit warehouses with heavy- and light-duty charging infrastructure, integrate the chargers with onsite solar PV and energy storage systems, and use the company’s charging network management software to deploy Volvo’s first electrified trucks in North America. The charging equipment for the project – including both Level 2 chargers and 150kW DC fast-chargers – will operate on Greenlots’ SKY enterprise software platform. Volvo Trucks’ connectivity system will be integrated to provide truck operators with a view of their vehicles’ operational and charging readiness.

“This is an excellent opportunity to show the end-to-end potential of electrification,” said Peter Voorhoeve, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “From solar energy harvesting at our customer locations, to electric vehicle uptime services, to potential second uses for batteries, this project will provide invaluable experience and data for the whole value chain.”

Greenlots will work with ABB and other charging station manufacturers to provide the equipment, while partnering with Burns & McDonnell to engineer, construct and install the new EV charging stations. The project will be one of the first in North America to demonstrate a new heavy-duty vehicle charging standard, SAE J3068, in real-world applications.

Volvo LIGHTS is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in disadvantaged communities.