Companies planning to electrify their shipping operations are looking to turn their warehouses into hubs for charging their growing fleets of electric trucks and cargo vans.
Industrial real-estate developers say they have been receiving more requests to install charging stations at distribution centers, a sign that logistics companies are preparing for a shift in the power behind transport amid elevated fuel prices and a drive to rein in carbon emissions.
Attention to charging infrastructure is growing as truck and automobile makers turn more of their manufacturing efforts over to developing electric vehicles. Additionally, battery makers are extending their research as they try to make lighter power sources that can allow vehicles to travel longer distances before they need to be recharged. Still, much of the investment in charging infrastructure so far has focused on passenger cars rather than commercial trucks.
The high stakes involved in shipping operations, where unexpected or lengthy downtimes for charging can disrupt supply chains, are leading more companies to seek their own solutions.
“In almost all our deals,” tenants are looking at “how many EV charging stations can they get in the building,” said Aaron Malitzky, executive vice president of DH Property Holdings LLC. The New York-based industrial real-estate developer’s customers include e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. and TJX Cos., the parent company of discount retail chains TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls.
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DH Property Holdings is a leading real estate development, investment and asset management firm focusing on complex industrial distribution warehouses in dense, urban-core areas.
