Electric semi trucks made by Volvo are displayed during a Performance Food Group’s event, where they showcased their 6 electric semi trucks and electric refrigeration units, on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Gilroy, Calif. On a recent cloudless spring day on the outskirts of Gilroy, Christian Martorella accelerated an 18-wheeler past budding orchards. But instead of the roar of a diesel engine, the cab filled with the gentle hum of an electric motor.
“It’s important for anyone in their business to be thinking about these things. But they are out ahead of the curve,” Bill Robertson, vehicle program specialist for California Air Review Board. “We’re pretty excited about what they’re doing there.” “Diesel’s been a great fuel for us. We just didn’t realize 75 years ago that it was gonna kill the planet,” said Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency. “Now we got to do something different.”
Heavy-duty chargers for the batteries are also scarce, and often, relatively slow. Even rapid chargers can take 45 minutes to charge compared to the 10 minutes it may take to fill a tank with fuel.