Port of Long Beach opens first-in-nation EV charging station for heavy trucks

The Port of Long Beach, the nation’s second-busiest seaport, is first in the nation to open a publicly accessible charging station for heavy-duty electric trucks.

The service is provided by the port in partnership with EV Connect, a provider of charge-management solutions for electric vehicles. The station, located in the Port’s Harbor District, has two charging units.

The project is part of a wider effort to meet California’s goal of zero-emissions terminal operations by 2030 and zero-emissions trucking by 2035 at the nation’s second-busiest seaport.

“Southern California will need a network of thousands of heavy-duty charging stations, not only at the ports but all around the region, as society moves to renewable energy to fight climate change,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a statement. “We are proud to lead, support and help accelerate the adoption of these technologies.”

Long Beach Harbor Commission President Sharon L. Weissman said the Port of Long Beach is committed to becoming a zero-emissions seaport. “Step-by-step, we are making progress toward meeting the goals of both zero-emissions terminal operations by 2030 and zero-emissions trucking by 2035,” Weissman added.

The Port of Long Beach has a reputation as an industry leader in advancing cleaner cargo movement.

To tackle greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, the Port of Long Beach has set a goal of all zero-emissions cargo-handling equipment by 2030 and a zero-emissions drayage truck fleet by 2035.

About 17% of the cargo-handling equipment at the Port is electric powered. That’s the largest such fleet in the United States.

As a signal of zero-emissions progress, in September the Port announced that a trucking company partner will convert to fully zero emissions by 2025—10 years before the 2035 goal.

The company, 4 Gen Logistics, is located in the Port of Long Beach, where Electrify America will install 60 public charging stations by the end of 2023 to serve its own fleet of electric trucks, as well as other companies’ trucks.

4 Gen will also purchase 41 Volvo and 20 Kenworth electric heavy-duty trucks, with plans eventually calling for a 100-vehicle zero emissions fleet. In addition, four Gen’s site in Rialto will host 30 charging stations.

Last month, the Port announced it will receive a $30.1 million grant from the Department of Transportation to deploy the nation’s largest fleet of manually operated, zero-emissions cargo handling equipment at a single marine terminal.

All these efforts are having an effect on cleaning up the air around the port, which last year handled more than 4.68 million ton equivalent units (TEUs), nearly a 16% gain over 2020 tonnage levels. It handled 2.49 million shipments, nearly a 30% increase over COVID-affected 2020 tonnage levels.

Compared to 2005, the year before its Clean Air Action Plan was adopted, the Port of Long Beach said it has reduced emissions of diesel particulate matter by 88%, nitrogen oxides by 49%, and sulfur oxides by 96%.