Charging capacity for electric trucks in New Mexico would increase under a development plan recently announced by a California infrastructure company.
TeraWatt Infrastructure, based in San Francisco, announced Thursday its plans to develop what it's calling the I-10 Electric Corridor. It's a series of seven high-powered charging stations for electric trucks that stretches across a portion of Interstate 10 from California to the border of New Mexico and Texas near El Paso.
According to the company's website, the stations "will be purpose-built to serve medium- and heavy-duty electric fleets by featuring dozens of direct current (DC) fast chargers, pull-through charging stalls, on-site driver amenities, and reliable operations."
Although the company can't disclose the total cost of the corridor, its CEO Neha Palmer said that over $1 billion in investor funding TeraWatt announced last month — one of the Bay Area's largest rounds this year — will go toward the project.
She said also that TeraWatt plans to leverage federal and state grants and incentives to finance the corridor and that customers who use the stations will "reap the benefits of the [Inflation Reduction Act's] new tax provisions when charging with TeraWatt."
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes a provision where EV fleets get 30% of the cost of purchasing chargers back in the form of a tax credit, up to $100,000. Operators of electric vehicle fleets can start to reserve charging capacity at TeraWatt's stations "in the coming weeks," according to the company's website.
Both long-haul and local electric trucking operations can utilize the stations, according to a press release. They'll be located 150 miles apart close to highway exits and will range in size from four to 100 acres, depending on location, the press release stated.
TeraWatt plans to complete its first station in Tuscon in late 2023 and for the entire corridor to be operational in 2024, Palmer said.
In New Mexico, Interstate 10 cuts across the southwest part of the state and is just over 150 miles in total.
The full interstate stretches from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida.
The electric vehicle industry is fast growing, pushing companies to expand charging options. TeraWatt is only one example.
Go-Station Inc., an electric vehicle charging startup based in Albuquerque, this summer broke ground on a charging facility at the Port of Savannah in Georgia. It has plans to launch a national app to track charging stations, too.
Pajarito Power, also based in Albuquerque, has grown rapidly thanks to developing efficient fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies used in fuel cell electric vehicles. It landed a Belgian investor last month and went on a hiring spree earlier this year.
And earlier this month, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Inc. announced it will design and install eight new electric vehicle charging stations across northern New Mexico thanks to an $800,000 grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
