Smarter Charging Strategies for Electric Yard Trucks

Recently, our CEO, Tyler Phillipi, sat down with Mark Purcell, Sr. Corporate Development at Orange EV, to discuss the use of EV yard trucks at warehouses, ports, and rail yards, and the conversation kept coming back to one thing: a charging strategy can make or break electrification.

When it comes to choosing electric yard trucks, the performance is there, and the ROI math works, but without the right charging approach matched to each site's unique operational rhythm, even successful demos stall out before scaling.

How Does Shift Structure Change Your Charging Strategy?

Single-shift sites have it easy; they charge overnight and start fresh at the beginning of each work shift. But for sites with two shifts, charging requires stepping up to a larger battery pack or finding opportunity charging windows during breaks. The real complexity comes with "hot seating," where drivers swap out at shift change with no plug-in window at all.

Purcell's recommendation: Opportunity charge whenever possible, even briefly. "If they can do that even a little bit, that is really, really helpful," he says. For sites where hot seating is non-negotiable, battery-integrated chargers, like the Reservoir, are often the solution. They can trickle charge throughout the day and deliver power on demand when vehicles return.

What Role Do Demand Charges Play in Charging Decisions?

This is where many fleets get caught off guard. Traditional DC fast chargers draw the same high load from the grid every time, and if multiple vehicles plug in simultaneously during peak hours, utilities can bill the entire month based on that single demand spike.

Reservoir’s battery-integrated technology sidesteps this by pulling low, steady power from the grid and storing it, then discharging quickly when vehicles need a charge. For sites that can't avoid charging during peak hours, that difference in grid draw can be the factor that keeps the total cost of ownership in line with projections.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes Fleet Managers Make When Electrifying?

Under driving during the demo. First-time EV operators often hold back, unsure how hard they can push an electric truck, some even worrying about breaking it. The result is demo data that doesn't reflect real operations, and a charging setup sized for a workload that doesn't exist.

Purcell’s recommendation: Drive it exactly the way you'd drive a diesel. In more than one case, customers returned after a demo asking for a second round, not because the truck failed, but because they'd held back and knew the data wasn't real.

Overbuilding infrastructure. Some customers get ahead of themselves, purchasing far more charging capacity than their operation requires. They overpay upfront and pull excess power from the grid, spending money that the switch to electric was supposed to save.

Ignoring voltage compatibility. Most DC fast chargers require 480V. If a site doesn't have it, the deployment stops cold: no demo, no sale, no electrification.

OptiGrid’s Reservoir can operate on 208V or 240V, which nearly every site already has, removing that barrier entirely.

Underestimating power upgrade timelines. Utility upgrades, permitting, engineering, and transformer procurement can stretch 18 months to five years. Purcell has seen customers fall in love with the truck, approve the budget, then wait half a decade to run it. Getting a clear picture of site power availability before the demo even starts prevents that frustration.

The ongoing theme throughout is education. "There are some people who get it right away, and there are some who don't. But putting the keys in their hands is the number one thing we can do to show them this actually works."

Orange EV recently launched the Reservoir battery-integrated DC fast charging solution, branded as the Orange Juicer for Orange EV fleets. If you are interested in bringing OptiGrid technology to your operations, reach out today.