Megawatt Truck Charging Just Cleared a Key US Safety Hurdle
Megawatt truck charging took a big step closer to US highways this week. Portuguese EV charging company i-charging announced that its 1.5-megawatt heavy-duty charger, the i-light, has earned Intertek's ETL certification — independent safety validation covering UL 2202 and UL 2231 in the US and CSA C22.2 No. 346 in Canada. For fleet operators and site developers, that certification is the green light they need before spec'ing the equipment into real projects. For the rest of us, it's a signal that electric trucks are about to charge a lot faster.
What the Certification Actually Unlocks
ETL certification is a third-party check that electrical equipment meets the safety standards DC fast chargers have to satisfy in both countries. It doesn't replace local permits or inspections, but it removes the biggest early blocker for infrastructure: proving the hardware is safe enough to install. i-charging, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Porto, Portugal, with a US office in Atlanta, is now positioned to sell its heavy-duty chargers to North American fleets — though it hasn't yet disclosed its first US or Canadian customers or deployment dates.
The certification matters because fleet charging is where the biggest bottlenecks hide. Electric truck charging depots are already reshaping how freight moves, but until now, most high-power hardware was aimed at passenger cars. A certified 1.5 MW truck charger gives operators a concrete, safety-validated option for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles — the segment with the largest batteries and the least patience for slow charging.
CCS Today, MCS Tomorrow
The i-light is designed to handle both generations of connectors. Its CCS output delivers up to 800 kW with either a 600-amp continuous-cooled cable or an optional 700-amp cable rated for 800-amp peaks — enough to charge the electric trucks already on North American roads. Its Megawatt Charging System (MCS) output raises the ceiling to 1.5 MW at up to 1,500 amps continuously. MCS was built specifically for large commercial EVs with much bigger batteries than passenger cars, letting trucks refill during required driver breaks instead of sitting at a charger for hours.
Offering both connectors is the smart part: fleets can charge today's CCS-equipped trucks now and accommodate MCS-equipped models as they enter service, without ripping out hardware later. The unit also ships with a 37-inch transparent display positioned within view of the driver's seat and a separate 10-inch touchscreen — useful details for depots juggling multiple trucks through tight schedules.
What Megawatt Truck Charging Means for Fleets
This is an operator story as much as a hardware story. Faster charging translates directly into throughput: fewer chargers serving more trucks per day, tighter site design, and fewer trucks idle waiting for a spot. That's the same math that drove the race to higher-power chargers for passenger cars — like Alpitronic's 1,000 kW unit — now applied to freight.
i-charging USA CEO Jeff Cohen framed it as a decisive step, noting that "fleet operators demand charging infrastructure that meets the mission critical duty cycles" of the trucks on the road today, ready for MCS as the standard matures. California fleets, which already have the state's $1 billion electric truck rebate program to lean on, will be watching closely — megawatt charging is the missing piece for long-haul routes where a driver break is the only charging window.
The Bottom Line
Megawatt truck charging still has hurdles: site infrastructure, grid capacity, and the slow rollout of MCS-equipped trucks themselves. But a certified 1.5 MW charger that speaks both CCS and MCS is exactly the kind of bridge the industry needed. As electric truck charging depots expand and high-power hardware keeps getting cheaper, the gap between what fleets need and what chargers can deliver is closing — one certification at a time.