17 States Are Planning On Electrifying These Fleets By 2030, But Is That Enough?
A coalition of 17 states is planning to electrify 30% of new trucks and buses by 2030, a much less aggressive goal than targets set by the European Union.
The switch to
electric vehicles
goes beyond individual passenger cars and trucks, and many governments and localities are looking to bring electric power to municipal fleets. Some electric vehicle manufacturers are
setting deadlines
now for electrification in order to meet carbon emissions goals, and recently a coalition of 17 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Quebec did the same. Read on with the car ownership experts at Jerry as we unpack what the new plan entails and whether it will be enough to make a true impact on climate change.
What the plan of action entails
According to
Green Car Reports
, the plan of action pledges that 30% of new trucks and buses in their respective jurisdictions will be electric by 2030, but some are left wondering if that’s an ambitious-enough strategy to really make a difference. The plan includes medium-duty and heavy-duty commercial vehicles as well as school buses and transit buses. These types of vehicles are also beholden to transportation-related emissions standards but have not faced as much public pressure to go green as passenger cars.
While some options, like taking public transit, will always be generally more eco-friendly than driving a passenger car, these types of vehicles still contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
"Combustion trucks and buses make up only 10% of total vehicles on our roads, but represent a third of climate-disrupting greenhouse gas pollution and a majority of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution in the transportation sector," said the Sierra Club in a statement reported by Green Car Reports.
The plan of action also set a goal of making 100% of truck and vehicle sales zero emissions by 2050.
Truck manufacturers feel threatened by new regulations
The states that have signed on to the petition include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
California has consistently been a leader in eco-friendly initiatives in electric vehicle adoption, but it hasn’t been without opposition.
When California first moved to regulate commercial vehicle emissions, the state was challenged by the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, citing that manufacturers were not given enough lead time to get their fleets up to speed.
The state’s Advanced Clean Trucks rules ensure a certain percentage of zero-emission electric trucks are sold each year, while the Heavy-Duty Omnibus rules restrict toxic air pollution levels allowed from new fossil-fuel-powered trucks.
Is the plan doing enough?
The goals put in place by this plan are much less aggressive than strategies adopted by the EU, which plans to
ban the production of new fossil-fueled cars
completely by 2035. While some may criticize the U.S. states' plans for electrification for not being aggressive enough, others have criticized the EU for being unrealistic when the materials needed to make EVs are already in short supply.
While some resistance to EV adoption is to be expected, these 17 states aren’t the only ones pushing for more electric vehicles on the road.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) recently gave in to public pressure and pledged that at least 40% of new mail trucks purchased would be electric.
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