TRUCKS & OFF-ROAD EQUIPMENT
Goods movement is the fastest growing sector of transportation, but at great cost to urban air quality and the climate worldwide. CALSTART’s Trucks and Non-Road Vehicle Initiative is working to keep goods and services moving while reducing air pollution and climate change, growing jobs and increasing energy security.
CALSTART drives faster commercialization of low-emission, high-efficiency trucks and heavy equipment from 18-wheelers to bulldozers to port equipment. We continuously assess the state of technology and the market, identify barriers to progress, and work with private and public sector partners to remove them.
The Trucks Initiative uses four Activity strategies to drive change:
- Helping fleets reduce the risk and cost of purchasing the cleanest trucks and equipment.
- Partnering with industry and public agencies to develop the next generation of heavy-duty near-zero and zero-emissions technologies.
- Validating the performance and business case of clean vehicles to support fleet acceptance.
- Working with industry partners to craft smart regulations, policies and funding for near-zero and zero-emission trucks and equipment.
DEVELOPMENT & DEMONSTRATION
From its beginnings, CALSTART has helped speed the process of bringing the most promising clean and advanced technology from prototype to production via selected demonstration projects. This critical pipeline of innovation is guided by CALSTART’s industry-leading technology roadmapping expertise to drive results by targeting the right technologies in the most promising truck and equipment uses. Examples include:
- Organizing and managing a multi-hundred million-dollar portfolio of advanced technology demonstrations, including opposed piston engines, fuel cell delivery trucks, hybrid construction equipment, battery-electric cargo handling equipment and zero-emission cargo trucks.
- Working with the California Air Resources Board to develop a multi-year investment strategy that identified the key beachheads to accelerate the development and production of near-zero and zero-emission trucks.
- Developing a commercialization roadmap for cargo trucks with zero-emission capability, then helping organize the world’s largest demonstration program to achieve it.
- Working with the U.S. Army to drive dual-use technologies valuable to both the military and commercial user, and rapidly launching the commercial production of high-efficiency trucks through fleet-focused working groups from the top potential market segments.
ASSESSMENT & VALIDATION
CALSTART serves as a fair broker to evaluate and validate new technology accurately and render an honest verdict on what it can really accomplish. We are trusted by truck manufacturers, suppliers, fleet owners and regulators in this work. Our third party tester role encompasses field data collection, documenting benefits of technologies, market studies and business case analysis. Examples include:
- Confirming that renewable natural gas combined with low NOx engines can serve as a powerful tool in combating smog and climate change.
- Discovering that electric drive vehicles are even more efficient than regulatory models had assumed.
- Equipping hundreds of California trucks with on-board data loggers to help develop a better understanding of truck travel patterns.
- Conducting the formative studies that mapped the viability and commercialization pathways to achieve zero emissions in trucks servicing major container ports.
MARKET ACCELERATION
CALSTART’s goal is to drive faster commercialization of increasingly low-emission, high-efficiency, low-carbon trucks and equipment, both on- and off-road. Our market acceleration efforts include spurring simplified purchase incentives of early-stage clean technology to help build the market and speed uptake. Examples include:
- Securing more than $400 million in zero and near-zero emission truck purchase incentive funding in three states. CALSTART manages these funding programs, in coordination with partners. To learn more please visit their websites: Drive Clean Chicago, California HVIP and NYT-VIP.
- Deploying thousands of the world’s highest efficiency, cleanest trucks on the road via easy-to-use purchase vouchers in California, Chicago and New York.
- Producing the first comprehensive e-truck technology roadmap identifying a pathway for 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The roadmap produced a framework for use profiles that informed federal fuel economy rules.
- Launching the Global Commercial Vehicle Drive to Zero initiative using a unique commercialization strategy built on market beachheads – early success footholds – to speed near- and zero-emission truck adoption in the world’s major urban regions.
PUBLIC POLICY DEVELOPMENT
CALSTART is widely respected as an informed, experienced, well-connected and honest source of information and coordination in developing and implementing policies that support cleaner trucks. Our policy work focuses most on ensuring a flow of resources — including funding — to support industry needs, while also advancing smart rules that support innovation. Examples include:
- Working with fleets, suppliers, manufacturers and other partners to develop strong, effective, industry-supported phase two national rules on cleaner, more efficient medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
- Shaping and securing several hundred million dollars in multi-year tech development, demonstration and deployment funds for driving faster commercialization of clean trucks and equipment.
- Winning approval of legislation to knock down barriers to clean truck production and adoption in the form of weight exemptions and manufacturing tax offsets.
- Documenting the expanding economic benefits of the growing U.S. high-efficiency truck technology supplier base, making the next generation of components, and bringing the supplier perspective to policy discussions.
For information on how to become a member, please contact Director of Member Services Kimberly Taylor at 626-622-6229 or [email protected].