California TA to be home to ‘one of the nation’s first’ public commercial truck charging stations

TravelCenters of America (TA) broke ground on a heavy- and medium-duty truck charging station in California this week.

On Wednesday, July 12, TA officially started work on “one of the nation’s first publicly accessible medium-and heavy-duty (MHD) truck charging stations” at the company’s existing Ontario, California, store.

TA plans to have four 400kW chargers available for use by early 2025, with an additional one MW charger available by early 2026.

In addition to the truck charging station, TA also plans to use the site to “test and demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies,” including “one of the first available megawatt charger systems, an integrated microgrid generating reliable, renewable power from 250 kilowatts of canopy-mounted solar panels, and a battery energy storage system for up to 1 megawatt hour of power.”

 “This truck charging station is strategically located at the intersection of two of the nation’s busiest highway interstates and is a prime location to serve early-adopter electric truck fleet operators,” said Debi Boffa, TA CEO. “We are proud to take a leading role in bringing this infrastructure to our fleet customers and other professional drivers.”

The Ontario charging station is part of a pilot project in collaboration with the California Energy Commission.