(Credit: TeraWatt)TeraWatt Infrastructure has secured more than $1 billion of funding to help build its network of charging centers and operations for commercial fleets.
The San Francisco-based company works with fleets that include light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, and uses a property portfolio that includes cities, logistics hubs, and key highway corridors to provide charging infrastructure. TeraWatt says it will use the funding to accelerate its next stage of expansion and development, which is focused on the buildout of charging centers.
The funds are managed by Vision Ridge Partners and existing TeraWatt investors Keyframe Capital and Cyrus Capital. Terawatt launched in May 2021 and its platform combines properties focused on electric vehicle charging, charging and energy management, project development, and asset financing.
The company acquires properties in areas that are beneficial to commercial fleets and says its charging centers provide reservable and reliable space and high-power charging levels. TeraWatt develops and owns the charging centers, which it says allows fleet managers to avoid capital expenditures so they can focus on their operations.
Infrastructure is key for increased implementation of electric commercial fleets. Companies such as IKEA and EVgo recently pledged to add numerous fleet and public charging stations across the United States. Commercial fleet management systems, such as one by Synop, that help improve operations, charging, and energy management are also helping to increase fleet electrification.
The $1.2 infrastructure bill that was passed in November 2021 includes $7.5 billion to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles primarily through charging systems. The goal of those incentives is to build a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers.
In July the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance and NAFA Fleet Management Association sent a letter to the Federal Highway Administration outlining how they believe charging infrastructure should be built. The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance represents 31 major companies and fleet operators, and the NAFA Fleet Management Association includes 2,000 fleet managers. They say charging infrastructure should take operations, maintenance locations, and specific sites for commercial charging under consideration.
Keyframe Capital’s Benjamin Birnbaum says investments in electric vehicle charging are expected to approach $1 trillion by 2040. TeraWatt currently has charging operations in 18 states.
“Fleets are electrifying faster than ever, and we have been hard at work planning, building charging centers, and scaling up to make this transition easier for fleets,” says Neha Palmer, co-founder, and CEO of TeraWatt.
