Daimler Truck invests in EV training facility in Portland
Daimler Truck states that the new addition to the ‘Electric Island’ complex “represents the next have to accelerate testing and development of charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles since the first-of-its-kind public charging station was built in partnership with Portland General Electric and opened in 2021.” The training centre is to be used by the DNTA (Daimler Truck North America) dealer network and as a resource centre for community stakeholders.
“Daimler Truck North America is proud to call Portland, Oregon our home,” said John O’Leary, president and CEO, DTNA. “We appreciate the City and State’s support of our expansion plans to further promote the development and proper testing of advanced technology and look forward to collaborating for many more years to come on training and employing a future-ready workforce.”
The training centre is expected to cost around $3 million, with half of the funding provided through a forgivable loan from Prosper Portland, the City of Portland’s economic development agency.
The new engineering facility is to cover an area of around 110,000 ft² and will cover all of Daimler’s technical development aspects, as the company writes that it will “consolidate testing activities under one roof with focus on research and development for emerging propulsion technologies, such as battery electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles.” Construction will cost about $40 million, which is being supported by the State of Oregon with a $700,000 forgivable loan from the State’s Strategic Reserve fund.
“I am thrilled by DTNA’s decision to invest significant resources and continue to lead heavy-duty vehicle technology right here in Portland. I want to acknowledge and thank Governor Kotek for her commitment to this effort and to building the clean economy,” explained Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio.
Portland has been an important site for DTNA for some time, as the company recently started customer deliveries of its Freightliner eM2 electric truck from there, as well as being the location where the eCascadia was introduced in 2022. Daimler also managed to electrify its logistics at the facility towards the end of 2023.
