CARB Advanced Clean Fleets
Proposing 100% electrification of heavy duty vehicles by 2036
California has previously published the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which requires manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of heavy-duty vehicles as ZEVs (zero-emitting vehicles, that is battery electrics or fuel-cell electric vehicles).
Now it is looking to generate a pull for these vehicles, through the Advanced Clean Fleets rule.
In a workshop held on February 13th 2023, CARB described their latest thinking on this rule. In this latest round, CARB wants all new Class 2b – 8 trucks sold in California to be ZEVs by 2036, which is 4 years earlier than was previously proposed.
Existing internal combustion engine (ICE) powered trucks will be phased out, such that fleets will be expected to be 100% ZEVs by 2045. Legacy trucks can operate till their end of life, defines as 800,000 miles or 18 years for tractors.
Three other segments are targeted – drayage fleets, high priority fleets and state & local government fleets, with their respective requirements summarized in the chart below.
What Next
This was a long workshop with various stakeholder comments received. Many commenters raised concerns about the lack of charging infrastructure, high cost of ZEV trucks (just becase they are available does not mean they are affordable, despite government incentives), and the increased consideration needed for environmental justice. On that last point, it was reiterated by several activists that underprivileged neighborhoods do not have funds to access new trucks and that CARB should focus on also deploying cleaner new available technologies rapidly rather than wait for an all-electric future.
More details on this will be forthcoming, before CARB pulls the trigger on a final rule.
More Reading
For more details and the original presentations and recording of the workshop, see the CARB website
And read here for a summary on Dieselnet