Getting Electric Truck Chargers Online Faster

The report argues that traditional conservative utility planning, which bases connection decisions on worst-case load scenarios, creates lengthy delays for electric truck charging sites. Flexible service connections (FSCs) offer an alternative where customers agree to limit charging during peak hours to ensure grid safety, reducing energization timelines from years to months. RMI's analysis of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and National Grid data shows that FSCs are most effective on feeders with sharp, narrow late-afternoon peaks, typically near large population centers. In PG&E territory, just four hours of load shifting could theoretically support more medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles than have been sold to date in California. The report highlights the role of managed charging and on-site battery storage in making FSCs operationally viable for fleets and calls for regulators to standardize these offerings.

• Traditional utility planning often denies connection requests based on worst-case load scenarios, even if the grid limit would only be reached for a single hour a year, leading to energization delays of several years.
• Flexible service connections (FSCs) allow fleets to connect to the grid faster by agreeing to curtail load during peak hours, which enables utilities to defer costly infrastructure upgrades.
• RMI's analysis indicates that in PG&E territory, 60% of feeders could support an additional 10 regional-haul heavy-duty trucks per day with only four hours of load shifting by fleets using unmanaged charging.
• Scaling FSCs across all PG&E feeders could theoretically support more medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles than the 57,000 sold to date in California, potentially absorbing over 650 MW of load growth through 2035.
• FSCs provide the greatest benefits on feeders with sharp, narrow early-evening peaks in summer, which are most common near large population centers due to residential air conditioning demand.
• The effectiveness of FSCs varies by utility based on climate and geography; for example, National Grid's flatter load shape and winter heating demands result in lower overall opportunities for FSCs compared to PG&E.
• Case studies show that FSCs can lead to significant cost savings and emissions reductions, such as PepsiCo in Fresno saving an estimated $1 million in fuel costs and avoiding 8,000 tons of CO2 by energizing a site 18 months early.

APA

RMI (2026). Getting Electric Truck Chargers Online Faster. https://rmi.org/resources/getting-electric-truck-chargers-online-faster/

Chicago

RMI. Getting Electric Truck Chargers Online Faster. 2026. https://rmi.org/resources/getting-electric-truck-chargers-online-faster/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Getting Electric Truck Chargers Online Faster |date=19 May 2026 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/getting-electric-truck-chargers-online-faster/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2026getting, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Getting Electric Truck Chargers Online Faster}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/getting-electric-truck-chargers-online-faster/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }