Zero-Emissions Truck Sales Soar in California

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released a report showing that truck manufacturers are exceeding targeted sales of zero-emissions vehicles and are now two years ahead of schedule. This, in CARB’s view shows the interest that fleet operators have in zero-emissions trucks. (AutoInformed: CARB Mandates Zero-Emission Medium, Heavy-Duty VehiclesDeath of the Diesel – CARB Tightens Off-Road Equipment Regs)

The report makes several important points: users are interested in adopting zero-emissions technology; several manufacturers are stepping up to meet that market interest; and the flexibility that we built in to allow for a phased-in transition toward a zero-emissions future is working,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, CARB’s Executive Officer. “Helping the businesses that rely on trucks to transport goods across the state switch to zero emissions is key to achieving a clean air future, and the data show that progress is well underway.”

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Zero-Emissions Truck Sales Soar in California

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The annual report tracks how manufacturers are achieving CARB’s landmark regulation that established a phased-in transition toward the sale of 100% zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. Under the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule approved in 2020, manufacturers that sell more than 500 vehicles in California are required to report their vehicle sales and how many of those vehicles were zero emissions. The sales requirements start in 2024, so the early success of meeting them in 2022 ensures that manufacturers have enough credits to sell internal combustion engine models as needed to meet market demands.

The trucking sector is essential to reaching California’s clean air targets. Trucks are only 6% of the vehicles on California’s roads,. However, they account for more than 35% of the state’s transportation-generated nitrogen oxide emissions and a quarter of the state’s on-road greenhouse gas emissions. California communities that sit near trucking corridors and warehouse locations with heavy truck traffic, which often are low-income and communities of color, have some of the worst air in the nation.

To make certain that the needed technology will be available to meet upcoming milestones, CARB and the nation’s leading truck and engine companies recently signed the Clean Truck Partnership, which commits participating manufacturers to meeting California’s vehicle standards, regardless of whether any other entity challenges California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act. In turn, CARB has agreed to work collaboratively with manufacturers to meet CARB’s requirements.

In April, CARB also approved an Advanced Clean Fleets rule that adds to its previous sales requirement by requiring that medium- and heavy-duty fleets start a phased-in transition toward the use of zero-emissions options. The rule applies to fleets that are  appropriate for electrification, including public fleets, drayage trucks that operate at ports and rail yards, and other fleets from companies or entities with $50 million in revenue or with 50 or more trucks.

The Advanced Clean Fleets rule provides an additional coordinated impetus for new zero-emissions sales in the market, bolstering the emerging sales trends, in CARB’s enlightened view. Due to the impact that truck traffic has on residents living near heavily traveled corridors, drayage trucks will need to be zero-emissions by 2035. All other fleet owners will have the option to transition a percentage of their vehicles to meet expected zero-emissions milestones, which gives owners the flexibility to continue operating combustion-powered vehicles as needed during the move toward cleaner technology, CARB said.

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