Medium and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDV) form the backbone of America’s supply chain and mail systems. The trucking industry transports 71.6% of US goods, totaling $10.4 trillion. It also accounts for over 417 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Electrifying this sector will significantly reduce emissions, but transitioning to electric buses and trucks without reliable MHDV charging infrastructure risks destabilizing the domestic supply chain.
Did you know that only nine heavy-truck EV chargers are located throughout the United States? That needs to change if we’re going to reliably electrify the transportation industry.
Currently, that infrastructure does not exist. Unlike lighter electric vehicles (EVs), MHDVs cannot efficiently charge in a garage overnight. They require direct current (dc) charge rates over one megawatt (MW) — well above the 150 to 350-kW range currently offered at most public EV charging stations.
Transitioning just 10% of current fleets to electric trucks by 2030 will require building an MHDV charging network of more than 522,000 overnight chargers, 28,500 fast chargers, and 9,540 ultrafast chargers. Currently, there are only nine heavy-duty vehicle chargers nationwide.
With more than 1.1 million zero-emission trucks and buses projected to hit US roads by 2030, that number needs to change fast. Major automakers, including Daimler Truck, Navistar, and Volvo, have put aside their competitive differences to form the PACT initiative, a cross-industry coalition to accelerate the deployment of charging infrastructure for medium and heavy-duty EVs. This initiative is intended to help the country fulfill its commitment to the Global Commercial Vehicle Drive to Zero, pledging to pursue 30% zero-emission MHDV sales by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
Achieving this ambitious goal goes beyond simple MHDV charger deployment. It requires ongoing and regular maintenance to ensure chargers are performing properly. Charging reliability has been one challenge to EV adoption. For example, in the San Francisco Bay area, only 72.5% of the 657 public fast chargers were in working order. Channel 4 in Britain found that more than 5% of the 26,000 public chargers examined were broken, for a total of 1,352 units.
To maintain a sustainable supply chain, the trucking industry and other heavy-duty fleets cannot encounter the same issues.
Ensuring the long-term health of infrastructure means providing dedicated, widely accessible training to EV professionals who can maintain high-voltage charging systems safely and efficiently. The growth in EV infrastructure will require more than 142,000 new US electricians by 2030, over today’s base of 710,000.
Fortunately, there’s never been a better time in the US to be an electrician. Job demand is projected to grow by 6% over the next decade, faster than the average for all occupations. Many of these careers do not require a four-year college degree, and entry-level electricians make upwards of $60,000/year.
A dedicated force of well-training electricians is required, with specialized tools and equipment, to safely and reliably manage the high-voltage EV charging infrastructure,
However, despite these career benefits, the number of U.S. electricians has dropped significantly, from 1.2 million in the 2000 US Census to 610,000 in 2020. And it’s expected to shrink a further 14% from 2023 to 2030. How can we reverse this trend and attract more workers to the good-paying, high-potential EV maintenance jobs we need to electrify our domestic land supply chain?
As an industry, we must invest in a multi-pronged approach, connecting potential electricians with awareness of and access to the benefits of this career and training.
Due to the risks and complexity of working with electricity, a journeyman electrician requires 8,000 hours of hands-on training and 250-500 hours of classroom training. Upskilling for EV-specific needs, particularly high-voltage chargers for heavy-duty EVs, requires additional training.
National certification programs, such as the EVITP program, are a powerful way to connect workers with EV skills and jobs; over 20,000 electricians have been certified through EVITP to work on EVs since the program was launched a decade ago. Initiatives, including the Talent Pipeline Challenge, prioritize apprenticeship training in emerging sectors, including electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) manufacturing and installations.
On a state level, states can work with their local electric trade associations to ensure accessibility and availability of EVITP certification courses as they scale up the workforce to meet growing demands. The final guidance from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) allows states to establish equivalent registered EV apprenticeship programs to the EVITP program. Apprenticeship programs can also form recruitment partnerships with high schools, veterans’ groups, and other organizations that serve under-resourced populations searching for job opportunities.
Beyond education on EV technology, techniques, and maintenance procedures, this workforce of electricians will need specialized tools and equipment to safely and effectively manage the high-voltage EV charging infrastructure. With 1-MW dc charge rates — over three times that of the average passenger EV charger — these chargers require power quality analyzers, thermal imaging cameras, multimeters, and other tools designed to handle high voltages.
Investing in such tools and providing thorough training is essential for the EV charger technician workforce to manage high-voltage EVSE chargers properly. Equipping electricians with the right tools and knowledge enhances their safety on the job, minimizes downtime, and ensures a reliable charging network for the heavy-duty EVs that will keep our supply chain moving.
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Filed Under: Charging, Electrification, FAQs