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California rregulators approved a contentious amendment to phase out its fleet of medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks at its ports and train stations by 2035, an effort to wean the country off fossil-fuel vehicles and encourage investment in electric trucks — even as industry officials criticized are the timeline as deeply impractical.
The proposed rule, adopted last week by the California Air Resources Board, calls for a phased conversion of the state’s oldest and biggest polluters of off-road diesel vehicles to zero-emissions vehicles starting in 2024.
Starting that year, all new box trucks, vans and cargo trucks must be zero-emission vehicles.
And starting in 2025, the regulations call for the phasing out of all diesel-powered trucks in ports, rail yards and warehouses across the country.
The rule, which is expected to come up for another vote in the spring, is part of California’s broader strategy to end its reliance on fossil fuels. California already has a rule requiring all new vehicles in the state to be electric or plug-in electric models by 2035.
Those familiar with the proposed amendment described it as an enforcement mechanism designed to supplement the existing emissions rule and ensure that the state’s fleet of aging, high-polluting trucks is effectively replaced with electric models.
Currently, off-road diesel vehicles account for approximately 14% of California’s total NOx emissions, making them the second largest source of mobile NOx in the state.
Overall, regulators said the proposed rule is expected to generate $5.7 billion in public health benefits and prevent more than 570 air quality-related deaths.
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“The oldest diesel off-road vehicles without emissions controls are 80 times more polluting than similarly sized off-road vehicles being purchased today,” CARB President Liane Randolph said in a statement.
But opponents say the timeline being considered is impractical, citing both California’s lack of infrastructure for heavy-duty EV chargers and the high costs associated with the switch.
Only 500 of the 1.8 million heavy-duty trucks operating in California today are zero-emission, said Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of government affairs for the California Trucking Association, CTA, during a recent California radio interview. State of the Bay — clarify how expansive the proposed overhaul would be.
Lack of infrastructure for vehicle charging is another major obstacle, industry officials say.
California estimates it will need 157,000 chargers installed in the state by 2030 to support the electrification of its medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleet.
That means the state will need to install between 300 and 800 chargers a week by then, Shimoda said, each representing up to 158 MW of new charging capacity — or enough to power about 100,000 households.
“Almost none of that infrastructure is in place today,” he said.
Currently, the country has installed about 80,000 chargers for electric vehicles. Almost all of them are designed for charging cars and light vehicles.
Todd Spencer, president of the Association of Independent Motorists Owners and Operators, told CalMatters that current charging times and infrastructure could cause “complete disruption” to the industry.
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“Neither the technology nor the interstate infrastructure will be available in the foreseeable future to support the zero-emission requirement for long-haul interstate trucks,” he said.
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