American States Join Forces to Promote Electric Trucking

A bundle of U.S. states and the District of Columbia unveiled a joint memorandum of understanding on Tuesday targeting the proliferation of medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles.

News of the agreement comes less than a month after the California Air Resources Board (CARB) showed off a policy that would legally obligate manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) from 2024 onward. That plan aims to basically eliminate diesel-powered semis by 2045, though the new memorandum has its sights set on 2050.

Problems abound for environmentalists, however.

In addition to nearly every automotive engineer telling us that the scalability of batteries happens to be highly limited with present-day technologies, there’s little to no infrastructure in place to facilitate long-haul EVs. Most diesel-driven rigs can average over 1,000 miles between stops before even thinking about having to refuel. Their electric equivalents won’t be able to manage anywhere near that without devoting a substantial amount of their overall mass to energy storage. Meanwhile, there would also need to be a national charging infrastructure established catering specifically to large delivery vehicles — something that would undoubtedly require the bolstering of our energy grid (and teaching it a few new tricks).

Without it, these trucks would be dead in the water while homes/businesses suffer rolling blackouts. With it, they’ll simply be forced to take prolonged breaks as they draw energy from the nearest power station at carefully planned periods. But time is money in the trucking world, likely requiring a major technological breakthrough in energy storage. Critics of EV trucking have already expressed concerns regarding the presumably high costs of owning an zero-emissions rig. Some claim they wouldn’t even be all that ecologically sound unless the nation swaps to costly renewable energy or atomic power.

Tesla has promised a maximum range of around 500 miles on its forthcoming electric semi. When depleted of energy, the vehicle is also promised to recoup around 400 of those miles within 30 minutes via a dedicated fast charger. These are some of the most ambitious metrics we’ve seen. But they haven’t stopped it from taking criticism.

A few manufacturers have told us that Tesla’s model is so impressive that they actually don’t believe it’s possible, bringing us back into needing battery technology to level up. But the big issue remains how much energy this will draw from the grid on a regular basis. This is general problem the world will have to confront as more EVs enter the market. Yet high capacity delivery vehicles will be a game changer. Tesla’s semi needs 1 megawatt-hour of electricity for a single charge — which is about a tenth of the energy the average U.S. home uses per year. In Europe, it’d be about one-third of the average residence’s energy consumption.

Many remain bullish on the technology, though, and seem absolutely convinced that a solution is right around the corner. For what its worth, the memorandum seems to take the bigger picture into account. The states that signed onto it (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Vermont) want to open with a clear assessment of the situation.

From Reuters:

The states committed to developing a plan within six months to identify barriers and propose solutions to support widespread electrification, including potential financial incentives and ways to boost EV infrastructure. Trucks and buses represent 4 percent of U.S. vehicles, but account for nearly 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation.

California’s mandate will put an estimated 300,000 zero-emission trucks on the road by 2035. California’s planned rules will initially require 5-9 percent ZEVs based on class, rising to 30-50 percent by 2030 and nearly all by 2045.

But many are excited by the concept. Large companies reliant on delivery services, Amazon for example, love the idea of having to pay for less gas. EVs are also assumed to need less maintenance over the years, potentially making them cheaper to own than diesels over a longer time frame.

An increasing number of automakers are also starting to dabble in the field to see what it might take to make all-electric vehicles work for big business. While we’re curious to see what they come up with, we’ve tempered our own expectations with a healthy dose of reality. The first batch likely won’t be anything more than a proof of concept that will heavily influence when/if the second group arrives.

[Image: Nikola]