Voltera Secures $9.6M Federal Grant to Electrify Major U.S. Ports, Including Los Angeles and Long Beach

The grant from the Federal Highway Administration will be used to develop zero-emission vehicle charging infrastructure for heavy-duty electric trucks

Voltera, a developer, owner and operator of charging infrastructure for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) fleets, has announced that its owned sites near the ports of Savannah in Georgia and Los Angeles and Long Beach in California were selected to receive $9.6 million in federal funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities (RTEPF) program.

This grant supports Voltera’s vision to electrify America’s ports. Each site is being built from the ground up, and EV charging will be offered to customers via multiple contracting models. Voltera’s port projects will help accelerate the transition to zero-emission freight operations by supporting the electrification and decarbonization of key logistics hubs as designated through the recently released U.S. Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.

“The assistance from the administration and state and local government agencies has been critically helpful,” said Matt Horton, CEO of Voltera. “Having a roadmap in terms of how to roll out freight corridors allows us to catalyze a lot of investment from the private sector to complement the incentives that the government has provided.”

Voltera’s charging site in Wilmington, California, is adjacent to critical connection routes to the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. The Wilmington site will feature 20 charging stalls for Class 8 electric trucks and deliver up to 4 MW of charging capacity. Voltera estimates a reduction of up to 6,300 metric tons of emissions per year via this site. This site has also received funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

“This is great news for Wilmington and our port communities,” said Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44). “We struggle with unhealthy air and negative public health impacts from port pollution, much of it from the thousands of diesel-burning trucks that bring goods to and from the Port of Los Angeles every day. Our communities will benefit directly from the Jobs and Infrastructure Law through this federal investment in electric truck charging. We will be able to reduce emissions at our port, create good paying jobs and improve our communities’ public health.”

“Our Harbor Area communities, especially Wilmington and San Pedro, have long suffered from poor air quality due to their proximity to the port complex of L.A. and Long Beach, especially from idling truck engines as they travel through our neighborhoods,” said Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker (CD-15). “With this funding from the Biden Administration, it will give us a real opportunity to work with private sector companies, like Voltera Power, to reach our goal of cleaning the air for these surrounding port communities. Funding such as this makes clear that from the federal government in Washington D.C. to local government at City Hall protecting our communities from the environmental injustices caused by an industrial port complex should be a priority for us all.”

With 21 charging projects in development or operation nationwide, Voltera is creating considerable momentum for the adoption of ZEV fleets at scale and demonstrating the value of its proactive approach to site acquisition and development. Earlier this year, Voltera announced that it has invested approximately $150M of private investment in ZEV infrastructure real estate and is developing over 115 MW of charging capacity for ZEV fleets.