California surpassed its 2025 requirements for zero-emission truck sales two years early, according to the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), who both made announcements Oct. 23.
Under the regulation which was unanimously approved by CARB in 2020, the state aims to have 100 percent of all “medium and heavy duty” trucks—from large pickups to buses, dump trucks, and semi-trucks—sold to be zero-emission by 2045.
The trucks, primarily used for the transportation of goods across the state, were dominated by vehicle manufacturers Rivian and Ford, which accounted for 94 percent of the 7,427 total zero-emission trucks sold, according to the CARB report.
Officials from the air resources board said the recent success is a good indicator that truck drivers, companies, and manufacturers are interested in going electric.
“The report makes several important points: users are interested in adopting zero-emissions technology; several manufacturers are stepping up to meet that market interest; and the flexibility that we built in to allow for a phased-in transition toward a zero-emissions future is working,” said Dr. Steven Cliff, CARB’s executive officer, in the announcement.
The initiative is the world’s first zero-emission commercial truck requirement, which has specific goals for such commercial truck sales to increase each year between 2024 and 2035.
The regulation aims to have 55 percent of all trucks sold weighing between 8,500 to 14,000 pounds—such as large pick-ups—to be zero-emission by 2035. In addition, 75 percent of all trucks sold weighing 14,000 pounds and above—such as UPS trucks, school buses, fire trucks, and cement trucks—as well as 40 percent of tractors sold, will be required to be zero-emission by the same year.
