Passenger cars get most of the press, but heavy-duty vehicles are arguably even more in need of reducing emissions. In California, there’s a comprehensive (and complicated) plan to electrify everything.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced up to $205 million in new grants for projects to advance clean freight technologies. The grants will be matched by $210 million from private and public partners, bringing total investment to over $400 million.

The 11 new projects address everything from locomotives to trucks to refrigeration trailers to a hybrid tugboat and electric cranes and forklifts. All will be located within disadvantaged communities that are heavily impacted by air pollution from freight facilities.

• The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) will receive $22.6 to demonstrate a battery-electric locomotive, zero-emission drayage truck, hybrid cranes and other equipment at intermodal rail yards in Stockton and San Bernardino.
• The SJVACPD will also receive $15.4 million to help replace all diesel-powered equipment at Frito-Lay in Modesto, deploying 15 Tesla electric tractors, 38 low NOx trucks fueled with natural gas, and 6 Peterbilt e220 battery-electric trucks.
• The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) will receive $44.8 million to deploy 23 Volvo Class 8 electric trucks and 24 zero-emission forklifts, along with 58 heavy-duty fast chargers and other related equipment in Ontario, Chino, Fontana and Placentia.
• The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) will receive $5.4 million to deploy 4 fuel cell hybrid delivery vans for UPS for a 12-month demo in Chino, as well as $4.3 million to expand a project with UPS in Ontario that will yield 15 new zero-emission vehicles.
• The Gas Technology Institute will receive $8 million to demonstrate two fuel cell yard trucks at the Port of Los Angeles.
• The Port of Los Angeles (POLA) will also receive $41.1 million to deploy 10 Kenworth and Toyota fuel cell Class 8 trucks, build 2 new large-capacity hydrogen fueling stations in Wilmington and Ontario, and deploy 2 electric yard tractors at the Port of Hueneme and 2 zero-emission forklifts at Toyota’s POLA warehouse.
• The Ports of Long Beach, Oakland and Stockton will deploy 38 electric yard tractors, 9 electric gantry cranes, 18 electric heavy lift forklifts, 15 zero-emission Class 8 trucks and a hybrid tugboat.
• The Center for Transportation and the Environment will receive $5.5 million to deploy 21 battery-electric Class 8 trucks at four Anheuser-Busch distribution facilities, and to commission solar generation at its Carson facility.
• The City of San Francisco will receive $4.6 million to demonstrate 30 electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles between the Bay Area and the Valley, and to install fast chargers in San Francisco and Sacramento as well as charging infrastructure at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market.
• Project Clean Air will receive $3.3 million to deploy and demonstrate 5 electric Class 7 trucks with all-electric refrigeration units with Moonlight Companies in Reedley.

“California is again leading the world, showing what can be done when government and the private sector combine forces to drive technology and innovation,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols.  “The implications for the future are clear.  Businesses will benefit by lowering their operational costs, and because all these projects are located in disadvantaged communities, residents who have long suffered the impacts of pollution will benefit by having cleaner air to breathe.”

Source: CARB