DOE Awards $68M for Three Heavy-Duty EV Charging Hubs Along
- EVs Infrastructure & Grid Connection News
Marin Holt
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- 5 minutes read
- DOE awarded $68 million across three SuperTruck Charge projects in California, Arizona, and Utah
- Greenlane received $26M for a 10+ MW MCS charging facility in Barstow, CA on the I-15 corridor
- Utah State SUPERCHARGE project delivers 9 MW concurrent charging from only 4.5 MW grid draw
- Pearl Street/Terawatt received $20M for 10 MCS stalls with 3 MW battery storage along I-10 in Arizona
- Distribution utilities face 18+ month connection timelines for high-power charging above 50 kW
The U.S. Department of Energy awarded $68 million in January 2025 to three teams under its SuperTruck Charge initiative to design and build heavy-duty electric vehicle charging hubs along major freight corridors in California, Arizona, and Utah. Each site will deploy megawatt charging systems, onsite solar generation, and battery storage to serve Class 8 electric trucks covering more than 500 miles per day.
Critical Perspective
The DOE awarded $68 million for three heavy-duty EV charging hubs. Greenlane Infrastructure’s 10+ MW Barstow facility faces similar grid integration challenges as the earlier 10 MW Electrify America project in Baker, California. The failed 2018 ChargePoint project in South Carolina demonstrated the difficulties of scaling charging infrastructure without robust grid support. Will these hubs truly be replicable models or require constant, costly utility upgrades?
Project Details
Greenlane Infrastructure received $26 million for a 10+ MW charging facility in Barstow, California, along the I-15 corridor linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The site will combine megawatt charging system (MCS) stalls with solar arrays and distributed energy resources to manage grid demand. Pearl Street Property Co. (Terawatt Infrastructure) was awarded $20 million for ten pull-through MCS truck charging stalls along the I-10 corridor in Arizona, supported by solar canopies and 3 MW of battery storage. Utah State University secured $22 million for its SUPERCHARGE project, which will demonstrate 9 MW of concurrent charging using 12 MW of installed equipment while drawing less than 4.5 MW from the grid through a hybrid AC/DC distribution architecture.
The SUPERCHARGE project is notable for its grid efficiency approach: solid-state DC distribution and advanced energy management tools allow the site to deliver more than twice its grid connection capacity in simultaneous charging output. All three projects are expected to produce replicable models for rural and corridor charging deployment nationwide.
Critical Analysis
The three SuperTruck Charge hub sites—including a 12 MW installed/9 MW concurrent Flagstaff, AZ facility—connect high-power DC fast-charging rectifiers that generate dominant 5th and 7th harmonic orders. The Barstow (10+ MW) and Flagstaff (12 MW installed) sites each exceed load capacities of rural distribution feeders, requiring substation upgrades with 18+ month lead times.
5-Year Projection
During the 5-year outlook, capitalized Megawatt Charging Systems (MCS) ventures will drastically compress technology iteration cycles, demanding continuous utility-level adaptations to accommodate high-velocity product launches.
Why It Matters
Distribution utilities currently face 18-month or longer turnaround times for connecting high-power EV charging infrastructure above 50 kW. A typical fleet depot charging 10 heavy-duty vehicles simultaneously requires 1 to 3.5 MW of power, equivalent to a small industrial facility. The SuperTruck Charge projects address both the grid capacity gap and the infrastructure cost barrier, with onsite generation and storage reducing peak demand charges and grid upgrade requirements. The federal charging infrastructure tax credit (30C) expires June 30, 2026, adding urgency to near-term fleet depot buildout.
