PORTLAND, OR—Daimler Truck North America is creating an initiative called Greenlane that will design, develop, install and operate a nationwide network of charging and hydrogen fueling facilities for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells.

The manufacturer of Freightliner and Western Star trucks is partnering with BlackRock Alternatives and NextEra Energy Resources on the $650 million project.

Greenlane's first site will be in Southern California, and multiple additional sites are being acquired along various freight routes. Dedicated software and hardware teams are also working on developing a custom reservation platform to serve fleet managers, dispatchers and drivers.

The network of charging sites will be built on critical freight routes along the east and west coasts, and in Texas. Greenlane's initial focus will be on battery-powered medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, followed by hydrogen fueling stations for fuel cell trucks. Future efforts will expand access to light-duty vehicles.

"Greenlane is designed to begin to tackle one of the greatest hurdles to the trucking industry's decarbonization—infrastructure," saysJohn O'Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Truck North America. "The nation's fleets can only transform with the critical catalyst of publicly accessible charging designed to meet the needs for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.”