Austin, Texas-based fleet electrification solutions company Gage Zero LLC and developer Hillwood plan to develop Texas’ first public commercial EV charging facility, catering to trucks and last-mile fleets. Nestled within the 27,000-acre master-planned, mixed-use development of AllianceTexas, this project is a significant leap forward in sustainable infrastructure.
The EV fleet charging hub marks Hillwood’s commitment to future-focused development, addressing both current transportation needs and tomorrow’s resiliency challenges.
AllianceTexas is a global logistics hub consisting of the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ); BNSF Alliance Intermodal Facility, one of the largest intermodal hubs in the U.S.; Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport; and direct access to Interstate 35 West and State Highway 170.
“This groundbreaking initiative exemplifies our unwavering commitment to advancing sustainable infrastructure solutions that prioritize our customers’ needs,” says Russell Laughlin, executive vice president of Hillwood.
“Through the deployment of innovative technologies, we expect to significantly enhance transportation efficiency, particularly in the crucial first- and last-mile segments of the logistics supply chain,” adds Laughlin. “Our vision is to enhance AllianceTexas’ forward-thinking infrastructure ecosystem, further empowering businesses to thrive while enabling them to take steps toward meeting tomorrow’s supply chain resiliency and reliability challenges.”
The Gage Zero team, led by founder and CEO Zeina El-Azzi, has $10 billion in combined experience deploying utility-scale clean energy projects worldwide. The company will develop, own and operate the AllianceTexas EV charging hub as part of its network of sites planned throughout the U.S.
“Hillwood is exactly the type of collaborator Gage Zero wants to work with to fulfill our mission,” says El-Azzi. “As innovators and leaders in our industries, together we can solve the complexity of both land development and electrification for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in a convenient location for fleet customers. Projects like this serve as a blueprint for how fleets across the country can partner with land and clean energy developers to reduce their carbon footprint and meet sustainability goals.”
In 2023, Gage Zero announced a commitment of $300 million from ARC Financial Corp. to develop charging infrastructure sites for medium- and heavy-duty (M/HD) electric fleets because of the scale of impact these vehicles have on the environment.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, though they make up less than 5% of vehicles on the road in the United States, M/HD fleets account for almost 25% of the transportation sector’s emissions, with most of that impact on local communities where those trucks operate.