Today I Learned – September 2024

NACFE does most of its work in the field at industry events and learns a lot each month. Here are some things we learned over the last month.

In a May 2024 report, CALSTART notes that 29,986 battery electric trucks were deployed in the U.S. as of December 2023, of which 25,339 — 84.5 % —were deployed in 2023­.

—   Rob Graff, Senior Technical Advisor

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Of the 80 GW of new service requests received at Texas’ Oncor utility, three-quarters of them (59 GW) are for powering new data centers. Grid growth will occur for many reasons beyond EV vehicles.

—    Rick Mihelic, Director of Emerging Technologies

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OOIDA’s Truckers for Troops is partnering with Wreaths Across America (WAA) for the Truckload of Remembrance initiative to support fallen veterans by laying wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery. The initiative fills one trailer with 5,000 wreaths to be sent to the cemetery in December. 

—    Dean Bushey, Senior Consultant

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Last Energy is building 20 MW modular nuclear power plants to support industrial customers. It plans to deploy one in Europe by 2026. The idea of having your own nuclear power plant once seemed far-fetched, but it is being tried.

—    Ari Kahn, Manager, Carbon Free Transportation, RMI

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Segmentation is very important when considering alternative powertrains. For example, a transit bus and a motor coach are often viewed as similar, yet the motor coach runs very long distances (>300 miles) and does not return to base daily.

—   Jeff Seger, Clean Energy Consultant

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