Penske Truck Leasing has joined CharIN, a global electric vehicle charging association seeking consensus on standardized global charging platforms. (Photo: Penske Truck Rental)
With around 125 million electric cars predicted to be on the world’s roads by 2030, it is becoming increasingly likely that a significant portion of transportation’s future will be electric. But reaching these numbers requires a lot of heavy work on the infrastructure front, as well as coordination between the parties. If each vehicle maker produced its own charging system — as often happens today in automobiles — travel would be limited to only those locations that have the manufacturer’s system.
In terms of commercial vehicles, this is not a sustainable prospect. To combat this, a group of carmakers – Audi, BMW, Daimler, MINIX, Opel, Fenix Contact, Porsche, TV SUV and Volkswagen – have joined forces and created the eV Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN). Based in Berlin, Germany, the association is open to all interested parties and is designed to develop and establish the Combined Charging System (CCS) as the global charging standard for battery-powered electric vehicles.
While it was started by a group of automotive companies, CharIN has now selected major U.S. truck players, most recently Penske Truck Leasing. Penske plans to work with the association’s High Power Charging Task Force for Commercial Vehicles (HPCCV Task Force).
“As a leading service provider to commercial fleets, we feel that standardization around EV charging and charging stations will help accelerate the adoption of EVs in the transportation industry,” said Brian Hard, President and CEO of PenskeTruck Leasing. “Interoperability of on-road vehicle charging stations is essential for commercial fleet uptime, efficiency, maintenance and overall ease of use for the industry.”
Penske has seen growing interest among its commercial customers in electric vehicles and believes standardizing charging infrastructure will help reduce complexity for all participants, including drivers, maintenance providers and recharging providers.
Joining CharIN is about making sure Penske customers have the right vehicles for their operations, explained Bill Combs, director of connected fleets at Penske.
“We want to be on top of everything, and there aren’t a lot of electric vehicles in Class 6, 7 or 8, which is the majority of our vehicles,” Combs said. “As long as there is a pickup in this type of vehicle (as expected), we expect (electric vehicles) to become a larger part of our fleet.”
Penske operates more than 270,000 vehicles from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. The company offers full-service truck leasing, maintenance contracts, commercial and consumer truck leasing, used truck sales, transportation and warehousing management, and supply chain management solutions.
Initiated primarily by automakers, the development of the HPCCV Task Force began at a meeting in North America last March to focus on the unique needs of heavy-duty vehicles.
“If the industry can agree on some standards, it will be much easier with regulatory agencies (to set shipping standards),” Combs explained. He added that it is not just standardizing the charging modules, but also the wattage and more so that users can simply plug in the car anywhere.
“If electric vehicles are to have any chance of success, they will need standards,” Combs noted.
Being part of CharIN ensures Penske has a voice, and Combs said there are a lot of people who will produce the charging units — Penske doesn’t — but it’s Penske’s customers who will ultimately be affected.
“We need to make sure we have the right vehicles for our customers,” he said. “We need to make sure these vehicles work for our customers.”
“We are pleased to have Penske Truck Leasing as a member of CharIN and an active contributor to the work of the HPCCV Task Force. Our goal is to expand CCS capabilities to meet commercial EV charging requirements. Input from end users is key to our success,” said Oleg Logvinov, CharIN North America spokesperson and President. and CEO of IoTecha, Penske is the first fleet operator to join our team and this brings this important work one step closer to successful completion.
