Energy Exchange

Leadership, bold action needed to scale electric trucks and buses

By Jason Mathers / Published: July 6, 2021

A recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance highlights the urgent need for policymakers to prioritize truck electrification, which could have sweeping benefits for the climate, public health, and American jobs. The annual EV outlook includes (for the first time) a comparison of the zero-emission vehicle adoption path needed to achieve net-zero by 2050, as well as a business-as-usual scenario where fleet operators continued to externalize the health and climate damage from operating combustion trucks.

For large trucks and buses, the difference between these scenarios is stark. According the BNEF summary, “by 2040, zero-emission medium and heavy commercial vehicles are 95% of sales in our Net Zero Scenario, but just 30% in the ETS. This represents an ‘adoption gap’ of 65 percentage points in 2040.”

Also posted in Air Quality, California, New Jersey / Comments are closed

Fleets have much to gain from NACFE’s Run on Less – Electric program

By Ellen Bell / Published: June 14, 2021

From regional haulers to food and beverage delivery, operators of medium- and heavy-duty fleets understand that there is an urgent need to reduce the transportation sector’s contribution to climate change and poor air quality, and the impact their vehicles have. That’s why fleets in cities from New York to Los Angeles and Quebec to Vancouver have signed up for the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Rocky Mountain Institute’s Run on Less-Electric program to help amplify understanding of electric trucks and collect data to scale their adoption.

Run on Less – Electric is working with original equipment manufacturers to signal their readiness to pursue zero-emission vehicles, their desire to do their part to drive change and to make it work for their business model. The program will provide the opportunity for fleets to see zero-emission vehicles achieving product delivery along real-word routes, and the data collected will prove that ZEVs are a viable option for the future of logistics.

Also posted in Air Quality, California, New York / Comments are closed

New Jersey’s road to clean transportation revs up with advanced clean trucks rule

By Mary Barber / Published: May 19, 2021

Requiring manufacturers to produce zero-emission trucks and buses is a turn New Jersey cannot afford to miss. The discussions to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks rule begin this week, and the Department of Environmental Protection should seize the opportunity to transition trucks and buses from diesel to zero-emission motors. This is one of the most powerful ways for New Jersey to build on its momentum as a climate leader and reduce pollution, address equity issues, improve public health and spark economic growth across the state.

Transportation is the most polluting sector in New Jersey. It emits nearly half of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and is the largest contributor of local air pollution, which causes a host of health threats. Trucks and buses are responsible for a disproportionate share of this pollution because they run on diesel fuel. Delivering on Gov. Murphy’s Energy Master Plan, which prioritizes zero-emission transportation, the ACT can help solve these problems and get New Jersey closer to 100% zero-emission truck and bus sales by 2040 and a full fleet turnover by 2050.

Also posted in Air Quality, New Jersey / Comments are closed

Illinois can step up as environmental leader in truck and bus electrification

By Larissa Koehler / Published: May 14, 2021

Yesterday, Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva and House Representative Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. introduced a resolution to encourage Gov. Pritzker to sign on to a memorandum of understanding that would commit the state to a goal of transitioning all medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses to zero-emission models by 2050. Spearheaded largely by the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and the Illinois Environmental Council, the resolution will encourage a key step towards a clean transportation future.

Also posted in Illinois / Comments are closed

New bill will make it easier, cheaper to buy electric trucks and buses

By EDF Blogs / Published: April 22, 2021

By Michael Colvin and Lauren Navarro

A new bill making its way through the California Legislature has the potential to help accelerate the much-needed transition to electric vehicles.

The law, Senate Bill 372, would create state programs that help owners of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses pay for the costs of replacing their diesel-fueled fleets with cleaner, zero-emissions alternatives.

Medium- and heavy-duty trucks create massive amounts of air pollution. This pollution deteriorates air quality and can exacerbate serious health problems for people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory conditions. The pollution is particularly bad along shipping routes and near warehouses, many of which are located in and around low-income communities. So replacing these vehicles with cleaner, zero-polluting versions will immediately improve outcomes for these vulnerable populations.

Also posted in Air Quality, California / Comments are closed

DOE’s SuperTruck 3 can help us reach a zero-emission future – if we have the right clean truck standards too

By Jason Mathers / Published: April 19, 2021

Cleaning up pollution from the U.S. trucking industry is an urgent need for the country. For the past decade, the Department of Energy’s SuperTruck Program has helped showcase solutions for a cleaner future. Now Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has announced a new generation of the DOE SuperTruck program – SuperTruck 3 – that will focus on higher efficiency and zero-emission solutions.

Through the SuperTruck 3 program, DOE will provide $162 million in funding to “pioneer electrified medium- and heavy-duty trucks and freight system concepts that achieve even higher efficiency and lower emissions.” The funding focuses on a range of approaches, including all-electric systems, plug-in hybrid systems using renewable biofuels and hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Also posted in Air Quality, California / Comments are closed