Biden administration wants to put electric truck chargers in high-traffic ‘corridors’ under new plan

The Biden administration is looking to place charging infrastructure for electric freight trucks in high-traffic corridors, under a new plan it released on Tuesday. 

The plan calls for electric freight truck chargers to be deployed initially along key stretches of highways.

This includes parts of I-95 in the Northeast, sections of I-5 in California and another section in Washington and Oregon, as well as I-80 between the East Coast and Illinois and along several highways in Texas.

“President Biden’s historic investments in zero-emission infrastructure on those high-traffic roads and the hubs they connect will rapidly transform freight transport in the U.S. and strengthen American innovation,” said White House climate advisor Ali Zaidi in a written statement.

The plan doesn’t appear to include any new federal investments in this type of infrastructure — but rather a strategy for where such investments could be placed going forward. 

The announcement of the strategy comes as the agency is expected to soon finalize a rule that would require an increasing percentage of new freight trucks to be electric or otherwise climate-friendly. 

Members of the trucking industry have criticized the rule, which was proposed last year, as underestimating the challenges associated with setting up charging infrastructure. 

Environmental advocates praised the plan as both helping the administration make the most of climate-friendly investments and reducing pollution in areas where large amounts of diesel particles are contributing to respiratory issues.

Katherine García, director of the Sierra Club’s clean transportation for all campaign, noted that thousands of Americans are “harmed by the toxic diesel pollution that [is] concentrated in these freight hubs and so this is [an] important milestone for building out the necessary infrastructure that will help save lives.”

Evergreen Action Vice President Craig Segall, in a written statement, said that the “coordinated investment” strategy “will be a game changer that drives further investment and job creation and delivers cleaner roadways for all.”