We covered the innovative high-pressure water lines that generate power underneath the Gordon Faber Rec Center last month. And Hillsboro has one of the most aggressive plans in the country to install electric car charging stations and other innovations designed to preserve energy and make us all more efficient. Additionally consider the massive power substations being installed in North Hillsboro (for Data Centers) and the Amazon Distribution hubs in the same area. Trucks by the thousands enter our City every week right at the same location where thousands of megawatts are being produced.
An opportunity is awaiting our Community that Daimler Truck and Portland General Electric has just exposed in a press release today. Electric Trucks have the potential to forever alter the planet’s perilous situation for the better. But charging them takes time and energy. Now imagine what would happen if our City and the business community could design the needed spaces and the juice to charge those trucks coming to our city daily. The potential is huge and this is most certainly another chance for Hillsboro to lead. Read the press release about the new Electric Island charging station planned by Daimler below.
Portland, Ore., Dec. 1, 2020 – Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) and Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) today announced the co-development of “Electric Island,” a large public charging site for medium- and heavy-duty electric commercial vehicles expected to be the first of its kind in the United States. Electric Island will help accelerate the development, testing, and deployment of zero-emissions (tank to wheel) commercial vehicles.
The site is under construction now near DTNA headquarters in Portland and is designed to support up to nine vehicle charging stations with charging levels of up to greater than one megawatt by the spring of 2021. Electric Island will provide DTNA, PGE and the public the opportunity to charge light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles. Plans for more chargers, on-site energy storage, solar power generation, and a product and technology showcase building are currently being finalized. Electric Island aims to address the intersection of vehicles and the grid, creating new opportunities for future EV drivers and utility customers. Powered by DTNA’s enrollment in PGE’s Green Future Impact renewable energy program, the site will be greenhouse gas emissions-free, including all vehicle charging.
Roger Nielsen, president and CEO of DTNA, said, “In cooperation with PGE, and with the plan to expand electric vehicle charging right here in Portland to support not only our EV charging needs but those of other drivers in the area, we are paving the way to a brighter, cleaner CO?,,-neutral future. As the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles, we can accelerate this shift and are excited to address, holistically, the complete EV ecosystem. Daimler Trucks has made Portland our home for the past 73 years and having been born and raised in Oregon, I am incredibly proud to help make Swan Island an Electric Island.”
Maria Pope, president, and CEO of PGE, said, “Oregon’s transportation future is electric, and with global leaders like Daimler Trucks North America right here in Portland, we have the opportunity to accelerate a clean energy transition. We are excited to launch this cutting-edge partnership with DTNA, demonstrating what is possible when utilities and the automotive industry collaborate and innovate.”
Electric Island is designed to inform both DTNA’s work in commercial electric vehicle development and PGE’s work in meeting customer charging needs. The project will inform each company’s efforts by studying the future of heavy-duty charging, including:
- Use of vehicle chargers featuring power delivery of up to over one megawatt (over 4 times faster than today’s fastest light-duty vehicle chargers), enabling PGE and DTNA to develop best practices for cost-effective future deployments;
- Integration of heavy-duty charging technology into PGE’s Smart Grid, such as vehicle-to-grid technologies, second-life use of Daimler’s battery packs, and onsite energy generation; and
- Testing information technology opportunities like fleet and energy management by captive solutions and services.
About Daimler Trucks North America
Daimler Trucks North America LLC, headquartered in Portland, Ore., is the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturer in North America. It manufactures, sells, and services commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Western Star, Detroit, and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. Daimler Trucks North America is a Daimler company.
I missed WHERE more energy will be manufactured or captured….. Data centers use it, do they also manufacture it?
Hi Kathleen – Very large substations are being added and there is where power will be available and in large quantities. The Trucks are no diesel and let’s say they get 5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. Having electric trucks is going to change the planet because each truck equals the work of a fleet of cars. So I was not trying to say we produce new power- although we are in the water lines a the Hillsboro Stadium complex. What I am saying is if all of these trucks are coming to our e-commerce centers, why not have them stay for a bit and recharge here before they take off. It is a win-win for the planet!
Thanks;
Dirk