This is the first charging station of its kind to open at a truck stop in California and while these chargers are designed to provide high power charging for trucks, delivery vans, buses and other large vehicles, they can also be used to charge passenger cars.
Installed at Truck Net, Avenida de la Fuente, near the US/Mexico border, the 250 kW chargers can provide up to 250 miles per hour of charging for a passenger car. They can charge a typical medium-duty box truck from 20%-80% in about an hour and fully charge from empty to 100% in about two hours.
The Otay Mesa Port of Entry is the busiest commercial border crossing in California, processing nearly one million commercial trucks and five million privately owned vehicles each year. Idling vehicles waiting to cross the border is a key contributor to air pollution in the San Diego region.
The chargers are funded by a US$200,000 grant through the California Energy Commission's Clean Transportation Program. SDG&E built the underlying infrastructure tying the chargers to the grid, as part of its Power Your Drive for Fleets program. The program connects fleet operators with resources and financial incentives to design and install charging infrastructure for medium and heavy-duty fleets easily and cost-effectively.
