Electrifying the Port of Long Beach

Technology company Tritium, supplier of fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) equipment, and Stäubli Electrical Connectors will supply and install a series of 33 high-power chargers for SSA Marine at the US Port of Long Beach. The chargers will power SSA Marine’s new fleet of EV terminal tractors.

The deal with SSA Marine is part of a $50 million grant the Port of Long Beach obtained from the California Air Resources Board’s Zero and Near Zero Emission Freight Facility program, which funds emissions reduction strategies at freight facilities throughout the state.

Tritium’s Veefil-PK high-power chargers will be equipped with Stäubli’s Quick Charging Connector to enable fast and automatic charging of all the port’s fleet of electric-drive terminal tractors. The zero-touch 175 kW DC high-power charging system is reported to be the largest of its kind in the US, enabling 33 electric terminal tractors to charge quickly, simultaneously and automatically.

“The rollout of both the vehicles and the chargers at the Port of Long Beach will demonstrate the ability to reduce emissions while providing reliable and clean solutions to the port,” said Jeff Wolfe, Tritium President of the Americas.

“The move towards the electrification of transportation is inevitable. SSA Marine is taking the initiative by seeing not just the environmental benefits of electrification, but the benefits to the bottom line as it reduces its reliance on diesel fuel.

“The key to ports operating at their optimum is efficiency, and the solution Tritium and Stäubli will provide to SSA Marine ensures the terminal tractors charge automatically, at the fastest speed possible.”

The electrification of the fleet will improve health standards for staff and nearby residents, reducing diesel fuel emissions as the SSA fleet continues to electrify. Shifting to EVs will also reduce noise pollution due to the conversion of the trucks from combustion engines to electrified equivalents.

Deliveries of the vehicles are scheduled to begin later this year through to October 2020, with the chargers set to be installed towards the end of 2019.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sergey Novikov