Range Energy, a company bringing powered trailers to the commercial trucking market, has formed a partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), the California air pollution control agency. The project will focus on building and demonstrating electric-powered trailers for the Class 8 truck market and advancing emissions reduction technologies for goods movement with commercial fleets.
Range’s electric-powered trailer system is expected to deliver substantial fuel savings and reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants, in addition to demonstrating the efficiency and decarbonization benefits of deploying electric-powered trailers. Range’s trailer system can also extend the range of future zero-emission vehicles when they scale in the market, proving to be a future-proof investment for fleets.
As part of this project, Range will build a battery electric-powered trailer equipped with standard interfaces that are compatible with both diesel and electric tractors, eliminating the need for retrofits. The project will undergo a comprehensive one-month demonstration period, including real-time emissions measurements to assess the environmental impact and performance of the electric-powered hybrid trailers.
Key project objectives include:
- Vehicle build and commissioning — including the building of a battery electric-powered trailer tailored for Class 8 diesel or electric tractors.
- Vehicle deployment, demonstration and evaluation — including delivering electric-powered trailers to end-users, data collection through telematics systems and a performance evaluation in collaboration with the University of California, Riverside College of Engineering — Center for Environmental Research & Technology (UCR/CE-CERT).
- Vehicle maintenance and support — including the training of operators and technicians in addition to the creation of operation and maintenance manuals.
“Range was founded with a mission to make towing cleaner, safer and more efficient while advancing economic viability for fleets,” says Ali Javidan, CEO and founder of Range Energy. “Electric-powered trailers are critical for the industry to achieve cleaner air and sustainable transportation solutions, and this partnership is an important opportunity to demonstrate the near-term efficiency and emissions reductions benefits in the South Coast region.”
“Transportation associated with goods movement — such as trucks, planes and trains — is responsible for the majority of air pollution that impacts our communities in Southern California,” adds Wayne Nastri, executive officer, South Coast AQMD. “Projects like this one are needed to provide near- and long-term solutions to reducing emissions from the transportation sector.”
