The Port of Oakland has added 10 new electric trucks as part of a multi-million dollar demonstration project aimed at reducing pollutants generated by its seaport operations.

The new fleet of Peterbilt “battery electric” trucks cost $5.1 million and were purchased using a grant from the California Air Resources Board, according to port officials.

As part of the project, the port also spent $1.7 million to install 10 charging stations at Shippers Transport Express, a port-based trucking operation.

“Getting these cleaner-running and quieter trucks into service is a major step in testing the feasibility of battery electric trucks moving containers,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes.

During the roughly three-month project, port officials will collect emissions reduction data and monitor the trucks to determine how effectively they run while hauling fully-loaded containers.

The data, along with information from other emissions reduction projects, will be shared with other U.S. and foreign ports.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.