Daimler joint venture to build $650M nationwide charging network for electric trucks

Mercedes Benz (OTC:) owned Daimler Truck on Friday introduced Greenlane, the name of its joint venture with NextEra Energy (NYSE:) and BlackRock (NYSE:) Alternatives.

The more than $650 million joint venture was formed to design, develop, install and operate a U.S. nationwide, high-performance zero-emission public charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

They also unveiled renderings of the site layout as a major milestone in the development of the project. Greenlane’s first site will be in Southern California, and multiple additional sites are being acquired along various freight routes.

Greenlane’s initial focus will be on battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, followed by hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell trucks, with plans to eventually expand access to light-duty vehicles.

DTNA says details on groundbreaking on the first site will be “revealed soon.”

The network of charging sites will be built on critical freight routes along the east and west coasts and in Texas. Where synergistic, Greenlane will leverage existing infrastructure and amenities while also adding complementary greenfield sites to fulfill anticipated customer demand.

“Greenlane is designed to begin to tackle one of the greatest hurdles to the trucking industry’s decarbonization – infrastructure,” said John O’Leary, president and chief executive officer, DTNA. “The nation’s fleets can only transform with the critical catalyst of publicly accessible charging designed to meet the needs for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Together with our strong partners, BlackRock and NextEra Energy Resources, we are launching Greenlane to address the unique demands of the industry, support our mutual customers, and provide a dual benefit to all electric vehicle drivers who will be able to utilize this new network. We’re excited to take this next step and look forward to sharing more of Greenlane’s plans in the future.”