A Georgia climate and transportation nonprofit is studying the best locations along popular freight corridors to add electric charging stations.
The Ray is working with Geotab Inc., a Canada-based telematics platform, to analyze which truck stops need charging stations. The pilot corridors are from Dallas to Atlanta along Interstate 20 and from Atlanta to the Port of Savannah.
The study comes as companies and organizations across the state have begun preparing for the electric vehicle industry.
The SK Innovation battery plant northeast of Atlanta, which promises to create more than 2,500 jobs, puts the state at the forefront of the manufacturing sector of the electric vehicle industry. Experts say that plant could act as a lighthouse for other electric vehicle manufacturing businesses. Duckyang, an electric mobility parts supplier, is investing in a facility in the same county as SK Innovation. Georgia also has a strong legacy automobile manufacturing market, many of which are starting to transition toward electric vehicles.
Georgia leads the Southeast in number of electric vehicles and is working to increase publicly available charging stations, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. There are about 30,000 EVs already on the roads in Georgia and 930 public charging stations across the state, making it the sixth-largest market in the nation for fast charging. Southern Company, the parent company of Georgia Power, is part of the Electric Highway Coalition to increase chargers throughout the country.
The Atlanta technology ecosystem also supports innovation in sustainable transportation. The Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners acts as a real-world test site for electric and autonomous vehicles. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers are studying vehicle electrification.
The Ray, part of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation honoring the sustainable business leader, is part of this network of transportation innovation. The Ray uses technology to innovate transportation changes to make the industry safer and more sustainable.
President Joe Biden's commitment to vehicle electrification, which will include freight charging, prompted the study with Geotab.
"Where will those charging stations go?" The Ray Executive Director Allie Kelly said. "Will it be informed by data, or will it be informed by lobbying?"
Each charging station can cost up to $500,000, according to The Ray, making the data an important budgeting tool.
The data gathered from the study is expected to be ready by the first quarter of next year for private utility companies and government agencies to use in planning charging infrastructure. It may be especially helpful to Southern Company, which plans to convert 50% of its fleet vehicles to electric by 2030.
But for now, virtually none of the medium- and heavy-duty freight vehicles are electric, Kelly said. While diesel vehicles are still on the road, The Ray also is working to implement electric truck stops at popular stops along freight corridors.
Those electrified truck stops allow drivers to park and hook into electric amenities, such as WiFi, air conditioning or TV, so drivers do not have to keep their trucks idling while they rest.
"We need to be able to strategize using data-driven platforms where the EV infrastructure needs to go, but at the same time, we need to multiply truck stop electrification as quickly as possible," Kelly said. "The climate crisis can't wait for diesel trucks to reach the end of their lives."
