Janus Electric to convert 67 diesel trucks to EVs
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Janus Electric has secured orders to convert 67 Class 8 heavy-duty freight and drayage trucks from diesel to battery-swap EVs, supported by Electric Vehicle Choice (EVC) and HVIP vouchers combined with Port of Los Angeles 'Plus' incentives worth up to $166,000 per conversion.
- Golden State Express, WEHACO, Tradelink Transport, and King Fio Trucking placed the orders, which also include 77 swappable battery packs and four additional 'Janus Charge & Change' battery swap stations.
- Janus Electric has 112 conversion orders underway across North America — 87 in the US and 25 in Canada — with CEO Ben Hutt saying the company's focus is now on scaling production to convert its order book into delivered vehicles and recurring revenue.
- Janus's Australian fleet of 25 converted trucks has logged more than 3,500 battery swaps, roughly 1,130,000 kWh of energy use, and over 600,000 km (~372,000 miles) of real-world driving.
- The Janus retrofit pairs a 480 hp electric motor with a 310 kWh battery pack (up to two packs, one per side), delivering up to 370 miles of range with batteries swapped in about four minutes.
Why it matters: Combined public incentives knock up to $166,000 off each conversion, making the swap economics workable for fleet operators who can't pause for multi-year R&D cycles. Janus's 600,000 km Australian track record gives the US order book the real-world mileage data that typical alt-fuel pilots lack, positioning battery-swap conversions as a near-term path for diesel-heavy short-haul fleets.
