End of 2022

Electric Truck Plan

The California Air Resources Board is bound and determined to have every vehicle become an electric vehicle.  Therefore, the plan was to require trucking fleets in California to switch from diesel to electric power.  The goal was to require all new vehicles be powered by clean fuels starting in 2024.  From 2025, California would bar trucks powered by internal combustion engines that have more then 800,000 miles on them from operating at ports and rail yards.  The ultimate goal would be to push more than 30,000 polluting trucks to clean energy by 2035.                                

However, trucking industry officials state that there is a big gap between CARB’s goal and the charging infrastructure that barely exists today and will take years to build.  There is also the question of cost of electric trucks.  Electric trucks can retail for about $150,000 and have a range of between 100 and 200 miles between charges.  People in charge of the various agencies have noted that it will be harder for smaller companies and independent truckers to operate electric trucks without a public charging network. 

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a $1 billion vehicle electrification charging project with most of the money earmarked to speed up the number of midsize and heavy-duty trucks on the state’s roads.  The rebate program will run for five years and costs will be spread out among utility ratepayers across California.  The commission estimates the cost to customers will come to “less than a dollar a month, for sure.”  Details of how the rebate program will work are still being worked on.  There is no money allocated for building EV charging infrastructure at individual homes.  Customers who wish to install the equipment will apply to a third-party administrator to receive the rebate.