In frontier markets like California, demand for electric vehicle charging stations, especially for battery-powered semi-trucks, is outpacing the pace at which charging stations are being built. Companies bringing electric trucks to market are increasingly eager to fill that gap.

The most recent example of this dynamic came last week when EV Charging station developer Voltera announced a new100 million credit line. The financing, led by ING The capital, supported by Investec, will support the development of several Voltera-operated and owned charging stations, as well as business growth and other initiatives.

It is not the first nine-figure funding for large truck charging stations. San Francisco-based startup Terawatt Infrastructure has raised more than $1 billion dollars to fund its plans to build a nationwide network of charging stations. Oakland, California-based startup Forum Mobility raised $400 million last year to support its truck charging stations at California ports and highways.

But according to Voltera it is $100 The million euro facility is the first financing instrument of its kind ​“secured by customer contracts,” meaning that individual fleet operators, ride-sharing companies and electric vehicle charging network providers have entered into contracts for access to and use of the sites being developed with the new funds.

““The typical financing we have seen in our sector to date has been backed by private equity and venture capital, rather than commercial financing of this magnitude for critical infrastructure development backed by customer contracts,” Tyler Sentman, senior director of strategic finance at Voltera, said in an email to Canary Media. ​“The fact that we were able to raise this amount of debt is a positive signal that the markets believe in our industry and especially in our business model.”

Voltera has no shortage of capital. The Herndon, Virginia-based company launched in 2022 with equity support from EQT Infrastructure, a branch of the Swedish private equity firm EQTwhich applies 246 Billion euros270 billion) in assets under management.

The company has also made major investments since then – it has already opened its first major location in Lynwood, California, in partnership with Swedish electric transport company Einride. The depot, which opened in March, has 65 Chargers that charge batteries of up to 200 Electric trucks enter and exit the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles every day – epicenters of investment in heavy-duty electric truck charging.

Voltera’s new funding isn’t limited to electric trucks. The company is also building sites for public charging network providers, ride-sharing companies and light commercial vehicle fleets, including an unnamed customer that has contracted to use its vehicle charging station in San Francisco. The company is also eyeing states other than California.

But California is where the biggest electric trucking trend is today. Trucking companies, freight and logistics companies are under significant pressure to meet looming electrification requirements—and Voltera sees a big opportunity in building the chargers these companies need to meet the state’s mandates.

The regulatory environment

California’s ambitious Advanced Clean Fleets regulation envisages the conversion of 1.8 Millions of commercial vehicles are to be converted to zero-emission vehicles over the next two decades, with several shorter-term goals being pursued along the way.

Thanks to this regulation, California is a leader in electric trucking and has far more vehicles in service than any other state. However, California is not the only state under pressure to expand charging capacity for a growing number of electric trucks. At least 10 other states have introduced similar emissions standards for trucks as California.

At federal level EPA Last year, rules were passed requiring increasingly lower emissions from trucks, buses and other large vehicles traveling between 2027 And 2032The Biden administration has laid out a plan to build out the charging capacity needed for the coming wave of electric trucks, starting with freight hubs and expanding development to highway corridors where the majority of electric truck traffic is expected to occur over the next decade.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill provides $2.5 Billions in funding for grants to support charging stations in disadvantaged and sparsely populated communities – as well as for heavy-duty freight corridors. In January, the government approved $100 billion623 Millions of grants from this program to 47 Applicants in 22 States and Puerto Rico, including several large-scale truck charging projects in California, Texas and other states. Ports in New York and New Jersey are being targeted as charging stations for hundreds of heavy-duty electric trucks.

Earlier this year, Voltera won $9.6 Millions in federal grants to support port fees, including1.8 million for a second charging site near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and $7.8 million for the delivery of up to 23 Megawatts of power for more than 120 Charging stations near the port of Savannah, Georgia.

The first requirements under California’s aggressive clean truck driving regulations concern 33,500 Trucks that transport cargo from ports to warehouses across the state. These vehicles are among the oldest and most polluting trucks on the road, making them disproportionately harmful to both the climate and the people who live near the ports – most of whom are low-income people and people of color. All trucks must be fully converted to zero-emission vehicles by 2020. 2035.