The Port of Long Beach plans to test electric trucks and a pantograph power supply system for short haul over the road drayage.
The proposal, which still needs approval from the Long Beach Board of Harbour Commissioners, involves a funding agreement with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for up to $2M toward a "regional overhead catenary system demonstration project".
The pilot project includes testing a demonstration vehicle in Germany at the manufacturer's facility over two seven-week periods. That vehicle will then be shipped to the US where it will be tested with at least one other on a temporary one mile catenary system along Alameda Street in the city of Carson.
Two parallel catenary wires will be installed above the roadway, fed from a containerised power rectifying substation in the middle of the track. The trucks will be built on a Class 8 platform with an integrated pantograph system to allow "seamless connection and detachment from the catenary power source". This indicates the trucks are likely to be a hybrid drive with electric motors that can be powered by mains electricity or via an onboard diesel generator.
Performance on the test track in Carson will be monitored over one year, during which the SCAQMD will produce monthly evaluation reports. After the test period the system will be decommissioned unless SCAQMD finds a owner and operator to purchase the assets and run the system.
Several groups in Los Angles are pushing for dedicated electric truck lanes along about 30 miles of the I710 Highway that connects the San Pedro terminals with distribution centres. Siemens has been testing road trucks electrified with a pantograph system on a test track near Berlin for several years now and previously identified the I710 project as one it was targeting.