Startups and major OEMs are under no illusions that fleets and other truck owners are up against a costly transition to zero emission trucks and see generous incentives like those found in California as being critical for a historic shift that’s being mandated by increasingly stringent emissions laws.
California made global headlines in April when it became the first government in the world to mandate the end the sales of conventional internal combustion trucks by 2036. Fleets wishing to continue to do business at the nation’s busiest ports and elsewhere in the Golden State will have until 2045 to make the switch to zero-emission trucks which currently includes all-electric and fuel-cell. Other states could follow suit.
Changes have been taking place at the federal level too. Last November, President Job Biden signed an international agreement placing the U.S. alongside other countries requiring OEMs to sell nothing but medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2040.
The Global Memorandum of Understanding on Zero-Emission Medium-and Heavy-Duty Vehicles predicts that sales of new medium duty ZEVs will comprise 30% of sales by 2030.
In April, the Biden administration cranked that percentage up even higher after proposing the toughest U.S. emissions regulations yet which the administration believes could move model year 2032 medium-duty EV sales up to 46% of the segment share and light-duty EV sales to 67%.
