KKR-backed company bets on electric trucks despite political headwinds
Zenobe began operations in 2017 and has raised more than $3B
A clean technology company backed by some of the world’s largest investment firms is entering the US electric trucking market despite the Trump administration’s attacks on the sector. The move signals long-term confidence at a time when many green industries are slowing down.
Zenobe Energy announced Thursday that it purchased San Francisco-based Revolv for an undisclosed amount. Revolv operates 13 fleet charging facilities in California. Zenobe also is on the lookout for acquisition opportunities in states including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, as the company aims to scale up its truck electrification operations, said Andreas Lips, who leads Zenobe’s electric vehicle business in North America.
“California is clearly the anchor,” Lips said. “But overall, North America is our ambition.”
Zenobe offers fleet electrification and battery energy storage in a number of other countries, including the UK, Australia and Canada. While the purchase of Revolv is its first US heavy-duty truck charging foray, Zenobe has electrified school buses in several states. Since it began operations in 2017, the company has raised more than $3 billion in equity and debt funding from investors that include KKR & Co., Infracapital and Mubadala Investment Co.
The expansion comes as sales of e-trucks in the US plummet, due in large part to President Donald Trump’s policy rollbacks. His administration has ended federal carbon-emission standards for vehicles; challenged California’s zero-emission vehicle sales mandate; and terminated federal tax credits for commercial clean vehicles.
Roughly 820 medium- and heavy-duty e-trucks were sold in the US last year, more than 50% below 2024 levels, according to BloombergNEF. With the sales of such vehicles likely falling further to less than 600 units this year, “the US truck electrification has a bumpy road ahead,” said Maynie Yang, a BNEF analyst specializing in clean transportation. California represents one of a handful of “bright spots” where local incentives are still in place to aid the transition, she said.
Those markets are exactly where Zenobe sets its sights on. The company also plans to serve medium and heavy-duty freight trucks that run on set delivery routes, which allows Zenobe to better utilize its EV charging infrastructure.
“There is actual demand to electrify [trucks] and it is in very certain pockets,” said Shreya Malik, managing director at KKR, adding that focusing on those areas is the key to success.
While acknowledging short-term disruptions, there are “strong long-term fundamentals” for truck electrification in the US, Lips said. As battery costs continue to decrease and diesel prices swing wildly, e-trucks are becoming increasingly appealing to commercial fleet operators, he added.
The acquisition enables Zenobe to immediately serve more than 100 e-trucks in California, with more projects underway, according to the company. Once completed, those projects will add another 600 e-trucks into the service network, Lips said, though he didn’t specify the timeline.
