Prologis, the world's largest warehouse developer, is teaming up with a division of global shipping giant Maersk to launch its third and largest electric truck charging depot as vehicle charging becomes a bigger part of the commercial real estate industry.
The charging station at 20502 S. Denker Ave. in Torrance, near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the West Coast’s largest freight hub, can charge up to 96 vehicles simultaneously. The station connects to the nation's largest EV truck “microgrid” that can operate independently or in parallel with main power utilities, Prologis said Thursday in a statement.
The depot launch is the second major EV facility announcement this month by a global commercial real estate company as charging infrastructure expands beyond the need for a few Tesla cars to power up at offices or shopping centers.
CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate brokerage, announced a partnership this month with electric vehicle charging station company EV+ to install stations at 10,000 properties, including apartments, offices, hotels and healthcare facilities across the country over the next five years.
Such stations are to be used by logistics firms that are building up their electric fleets to meet internal climate goals as well as government mandates. Amazon, for example, now has a fleet of of nearly 14,000 custom electric delivery vans.
Prologis, with its 1 billion-square-foot global warehouse portfolio, is positioned to become a major force in the conversion of commercial truck fleets to EVs as it expands beyond its traditional role as real estate landlord into clean energy, autonomous robots and artificial intelligence-guided warehouse management tools.
Charging Portfolio
The San Francisco-based real estate investment trust, with a market capitalization of nearly $100 billion, has reinvested its profits from the yearslong warehouse development boom into plans to become a one-stop provider of logistics support for major retailers and other businesses.
The company in 2021 launched its Prologis Mobility platform to transition diesel truck fleets to EVs across its own massive portfolio as well as offering services at third-party warehouse facilities.
The Denker Avenue depot is part of that initial wave of investment. The facility that covers roughly 8 acres west of Interstate 110, the Harbor Freeway, is the largest electric vehicle charging station for heavy-duty vehicles in Southern California, according to Prologis and Performance Team, a company owned by Maersk, the Danish shipping and logistics giant.
The Prologis and Maersk venture in late 2022 opened its first facilities in central L.A. County’s Santa Fe Springs and Commerce. The smaller depots have a combined four megawatts of capacity, enough to charge 38 electric trucks at the same time.
Maersk will use the station to charge its fleet of Volvo electric trucks that have a range of 240 miles and can charge up to 80% in 90 minutes as part of goals to achieve net-zero emissions across its company by 2040.
"It is our ambition to drive the industry shift toward decarbonized supply chains. Expanding the charging infrastructure for commercial electric vehicles is a key part of that," said Charles van der Steene, regional president for Maersk North America.
Federal Efforts
The move also comes as the Biden Administration and states such as California have ramped up strategies to reduce emissions and fight global warming by converting the nation's commercial fleets from diesel trucks to EVs.
The White House unveiled plans last year to build a national network of electric charging stations. California's zero-emissions regulations are particularly stringent, with its Advanced Clean Fleet rule requiring a large percentage of fleets to stop purchasing trucks with internal combustion engines after 2023.
Some trucking firms are pushing back against the regulations.
Total annual transport costs could double using electric trucks rather than vehicles with internal combustion engines, raising expenses across entire supply chains, according to a report released this month by truck leasing and logistics specialist Ryder.
“For many of our customers, the business case for converting to EV technology just isn’t there yet, given the limitations of the technology and lack of sufficient charging infrastructure,” Ryder CEO Robert Sanchez said in a statement.
Still, major companies are buying into the transition, such as Amazon, now with a delivery fleet of more than 13,500 custom electric vans across the U.S. That fleet was built up through a partnership with Southern California EV maker Rivian; Amazon's partnership with the company intends to bring 100,000 electric delivery vehicles on the road by 2030.