NORTH AMERICA REPORT
In April, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to finalize its Advanced Clean Fleets rule that requires all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or registered in the state of California to be zero-emission by 2036.
Among these requirements is a new 2036 target for an end to diesel truck sales. This was lowered from an early 2040 target, with the thought that 2040 would be too late to reach California Governor Gavin Newsom’s goal for 100% zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045.
The 2036 target is only one year after the 2035 target for passenger cars. Also in the rule, state and local agencies must purchase 50% ZEV by 2024, and 100% ZEV by 2027.
And drayage vehicles, the category of trucks that transport cargo from ports to distribution centers, must reach 100% all-electric purchases by 2024.
CARB considered allowing CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) trucks to qualify as part of the regulation, but data shows that it’s nowhere near as clean as ZEV and not much better than diesel, so the focus with these regulations is on zero-emission trucks only, including both plug-in and hydrogen-fueled. It recalls the old Henry Ford quote: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, as long as it is black” –You can use any powertrain you want, as long as it’s electric. See the article below from Electrek.
Source: ELECTREK: Read The Article
Source: California Press Release: Read The Article
PSR Analysis: To my knowledge, California has yet to ban ICE’s registered outside of California from operating within the state. If the state did this, it would certainly infringe upon interstate commerce. At the time of this writing, 19 states have sued the EPA over this phaseout arguing that it is an attempt to regulate traditional trucking out of existence through mandating zero-emission trucks. PSR
By Chris Fisher, Senior Commercial Vehicle Analyst
