Green Construct Charge (GCC): Grid-Supportive Mobile Charging Stations for the Electrification and Decarbonization of Construction Electric Vehicles
Project Update
In 2025, the project team developed a user‑friendly optimization platform that helps schedule mobile charging stations (MCS) and construction electric vehicles (CEV) to reduce costs, emissions, and strain on the electric grid. UC San Diego and project partners selected the first demonstration at the RIMAC Facility Expansion at the University of California, San Diego campus, where only electric construction equipment will be used and supported by mobile batteries. The first demonstration showed the value of CEVs for making everyday construction cleaner and quieter for students and neighbors while testing mobile charging solutions that utility customers and contractors across California can eventually adopt. During the first week of construction, vehicle telemetry data and video were recorded and used to develop an algorithm to estimate energy consumption rates for the CEV while performing different types of tasks. This model will be used to better determine the required capacity and the optimized charging schedule for the MCS used in these construction projects. Additional demonstrations under different site conditions will be conducted in 2026.
In addition to using an MCS for CEVs, the project also demonstrated the use of an MCS as building backup power during emergency situations. Three different MCS units were tested at the UCSD DERConnect facility. The MCS units were subjected to a variety of scenarios, including performance stress tests and emulated grid outage events.
The Issue
Traditional diesel construction equipment is a major source of greenhouse gases and harmful air pollutants, with off‑road diesel engines projected to emit 95 tons per day of nitrogen oxides and 3.1 tons per day of particulate matter in California by 2030. These emissions contribute to smog, and respiratory and cardiovascular illness, disproportionately affecting people who live, work, and study near long‑running construction sites. At the same time, many construction sites lack access sufficient electrical capacity or time to install permanent fast chargers, and charging many electric machines at once can significantly increase peak electricity demand and drive costly grid upgrades. Without a more flexible and affordable way to charge construction electric vehicles, communities are locked into diesel equipment.
Project Innovation
This project pilots mobile charging stations, large battery trailers that can be towed to construction sites, to power electric excavators, loaders, and compactors without building new permanent charging infrastructure. The mobile charging stations recharge at existing campus charging stations during off‑peak or high‑solar hours and then deliver clean power on‑site, increasing infrastructure utilization while mitigating increases in peak demand. A new optimization and machine‑learning tool will be developed to determine when and where to move and charge these units, keeping construction on schedule while minimizing emissions, electricity costs, and grid stress. The same mobile systems will also be tested at the existing UCSD microgrid as backup power for buildings, showing how these systems can support both clean construction and community resilience during outages.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
The project will test a new way to electrify construction without waiting years for permanent charging infrastructure upgrades. By using mobile battery trailers to charge electric excavators and other equipment at UC San Diego, the project aims to replace diesel fuel with clean electricity, cutting carbon emissions, diesel exhaust, and construction noise next to student housing, classrooms, and a major medical campus. Software will shift most charging to off‑peak or high‑solar times, which helps mitigate peak demand and associated costs borne by utility customers. The project will also demonstrate how these mobile batteries can serve a dual purpose by providing back up power to critical buildings during outages at the DERConnect microgrid testbed, providing data that will guide safe and reliable future deployments. Because the sites are in a designated low‑income community, this work directly improves air quality and quality of life for thousands of students and nearby residents while developing a model that can be replicated in other communities across California.
Consumer Appeal
The project will improve the appeal of off-road equipment electrification by validating the feasibility of deploying mobile charging stations (MCSs) for construction EV charging across multiple active job sites.
Environmental Sustainability
The project will reduce costs, emissions, noise, and air pollutants by transitioning from internal-combustion to electric construction equipment for construction activities, especially in densely populated areas like the UCSD campus.
Affordability
The project will increase charging station and grid utilization, support increased renewable self-consumption, and demonstrate the capability of MCSs to support building emergency services.
Key Project Members
Subrecipients
Match Partners
