California, which has created rules barring the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles in the state by 2035, will also require all medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating there to be zero-emission, emitting no harmful exhaust, by 2045.
The new Advanced Clean Fleets rule, approved on Friday in Sacramento by the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, phases in from 2024 and encourages commercial fleet operators to shift to nonpolluting options such as battery- and hydrogen-powered vehicles. It also bans the sale of internal combustion engine models by 2036. Trucks used in particularly heavy hauling areas, such as ports and warehouse districts, must be zero-emission by 2035.
The new regulation is the first of its kind in the world for heavy-duty vehicles, according to CARB, which has the authority to set tougher emissions rules than the federal government’s. The state currently offers incentives for fleets to buy zero-emission trucks of as much as $120,000 for battery electric semis and $240,000 for hydrogen trucks and said the new rule ensures there will be a market and demand for zero-emissions vehicles for manufacturers, truck owners and fuel providers. CARB said the shift to clean trucks will lead to $27 million in health savings from cleaner air and save fleet operators up to $48 billion through 2050.
“We have the technology available to start working toward a zero-emission future now,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said in an emailed statement. “The Advanced Clean Fleets rule is a reasonable and innovative approach to clean up the vehicles on our roads and ensure that Californians have the clean air that they want and deserve.”
A dry climate, wildfires and tens of millions of cars and trucks on its roads contribute to air quality that’s among the worst in the U.S. and has forced California to take aggressive steps to clean up vehicle exhaust since the early 1970s. Though passenger vehicles far outnumber commercial trucks on California roadways, the latter generates more than 35% of the state’s nitrogen oxide emissions from transportation and a quarter of its on-road greenhouse gas emissions. Nationwide, carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks generate more than a quarter of the U.S. total.
Manufacturers including Volvo, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Hyundai, Tesla, BYD and startups Nikola and Hyzon have already begun selling battery and hydrogen fuel cell trucks to California fleets and Cummins, the world’s largest diesel engine maker, is ramping up electric propulsion offerings through its new Accelera brand.
The American Trucking Associations, representing freight haulers, said the new rule creates “unrealistic targets and unachievable timelines that will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for the goods and services delivered to the state and fewer options for consumers.”
“An unelected Board in California voted to force trucking companies to buy zero-emission trucks,” Chris Spear, the ATA’s president and CEO, said in an emailed statement. “Fleets are just beginning to understand what it takes to successfully operate these trucks, but what they have learned so far is they are significantly more expensive, charging and refueling infrastructure is nonexistent, and ZEVs are not necessarily a one-for-one replacement—meaning more trucks will be needed on California roads to move the same amount of freight.”
The group’s statement didn’t say whether it plans legal action to fight the new rule.
The state plans to spend nearly $3 billion between 2021 and 2025 for zero-emission truck incentives and fueling infrastructure as part of a $9 billion zero-emissions vehicle package agreed to by Governor Gavin Newsom and the state legislature in 2021.
The rule will allow fleets to keep operating trucks they currently have “through their useful life,” according to CARB. It estimates that 1.7 million zero-emission trucks will be operating in the state by 2050 due to the new rule.
The new truck regulation comes a day after CARB announced new efforts to reduce exhaust pollution from dirty diesel trains.
