One Energy to build largest US fleet charging site

US wind turbine manufacturer One Energy Enterprises has begun construction of a 30MW electric semi-truck fleet charging site in Ohio. The site is located in Findlay, OH and is part of the firm’s efforts to expand its offerings in grid infrastructure. 

It is the largest such site in the United States, with the capacity to charge up to 90 trucks at the same time when completed.

“From its inception, the electric semi-industry had an obvious chicken and egg problem. Truck manufacturers and fleet operators need to be able to charge at scale before they can move forward with deploying electric trucks at scale,” says Jereme Kent, CEO of One Energy. “This megawatt hub configuration solves that problem.”

The site will allow for multiple corporate customers to customise charging operations and equipment to their specific fleet’s needs.

The company says it will obtain direct access to transmission service pricing, enabling it to provide clients with low charging costs. 

One Energy will also eventually offer renewable energy for charging from on-site wind power generation.

Subsidy-free 

One Energy used its its own capital to commence building the hub without any government subsidy or third party financing. 

“Because we are confident in the solution and the technology, we decided not to wait. We just built it,” says Thomas Lause, CFO of One Energy.

Lause noted that capital markets were often not good at financing pilot projects. 

“Now we have a functioning site to show capital markets,” he said. "Capital markets are good at building the second and third projects after the pilot has proven successful.”

The state of Ohio — which has a long history of auto manufacture and is home to Honda, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler assembly facilities — is looking to position itself at the forefront of the US transition to EVs. 

Earlier this year the state unveiled its electric vehicle workforce strategy, which aims to create an estimated 25,000 jobs in the sector by 2030 — a nearly 30pc increase on the current automotive manufacturing workforce.

The state will receive $100mn in federal funding over the next five years after its 'EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan' was approved by the Federal Highway Administration last year. 

And in July Ohio was awarded an additional $18mn in federal funding to develop 27 new EV fast charging stations.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) offers grants to EV charging companies to design, install, maintain, and operate EV charging stations at 30 locations along designated alternative fuel corridors in Ohio.