The California Air Resources Board and some of the largest truck manufacturers in the world reached an agreement on Thursday to shift truck sales in the state to zero-emissions engines by 2036.
Of course, the Engine and Truck Manufacturers Association — represents truck manufacturers like the Big Three plus Cummins, Volvo, Peterbilt and a few more — did not reach this agreement without a fight. EMA lobbyists have been fighting against cleaner heavy truck regulations at the state level for years. Manufacturers may be more willing to play ball with California after the Infrastructure Act of 2021. That $1.8 trillion piece of legislation is very supportive of electric vehicle growth and gradually get rid of dirty engines.
In the end, a compromise brought everyone to the table, according to Related press:
The companies have agreed to follow California’s rules, including banning the sale of new gas-powered trucks by 2036. Meanwhile, California regulators have agreed to relax some standards. emissions for diesel trucks. The state has agreed to use federal emissions standards starting in 2027, which are lower than California’s regulations.
California regulators also agreed to allow these companies to continue selling more older diesel engines for the next three years, but only if they also sell zero-emissions vehicles to offset emissions from those older diesel engines. that truck is older.
The CARB-EMA deal will do more than just pave the way for zero-emissions truck sales next decade in California; when CARB is up, it will happen in dozens of other states as well as Washington DC. It’s a good thing, also — 60 percent of truck traffic in California is from trucks from other states.
The race for an electric pickup that performs as well as its diesel cousins has spawned exciting models from Volvo, Tesla, Nikola and others. While EV trucks are extremely profitable — Medium and heavy-duty trucks are responsible for a quarter of US transportation emissions and half nitrous oxide — Greening these machines comes with some unique challenges. Semi’s monster battery will nationwide network requirements of the ultra-high capacity dedicated charger. Cargo weight can also reduce range, and with pickup truck sizes and weights tightly regulated at the state and federal levels, EV trucks may have to sacrifice cargo in exchange for weight. battery quantity. Heavier weight is also possible contribute to the microplastics pandemic because heavy-duty tires are one of the number one sources of harmful pollution.
