Drive to Zero Newsletter – May 2021

Dear Drive to Zero Pledge Partners and Allies:

Next week the Clean Energy Ministerial will hold its 12th annual meeting (CEM12)gathering the largest and leading countries, companies and international experts to accelerate clean energy transitions. Drive to Zero is hosting a digital session at CEM12 with the Netherlands to convene leading countries to announce a new collaborative international effort to align nations around ambitious targets for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (ZE-MHDVs). This effort will send strong signals to industry to accelerate the ZE-MHDV market, which will not only advance technology innovation and generate clean technology jobs, but also improve energy security, deliver tangible climate benefits, lower air pollution, and deliver associated health benefits. Stay tuned!

– Cristiano Façanha, Global Director, CALSTART/Drive to Zero

Drive to Zero Program Progress and Updates

How Zero-Emission Heavy-Duty Trucks Can Be Part of the Climate Solution

Representing only four percent of the global on-road fleet, trucks are responsible for roughly 27 percent of global on-road greenhouse gas emissions. Many nations, even those considered climate leaders, fear big trucks are too challenging to regulate. Those fears, however, are based on outdated information. New analysis from Drive to Zero – How Zero-Emission Heavy-Duty Trucks Can Be Part of the Climate Solution – shows how zero-emission heavy-duty trucks are coming on the market faster than expected, battery prices are dropping quickly, price parity with diesel vehicles is on the horizon, and current ranges meet the needs of many fleets today. (LINK)

Biggest Zero-Emission Trucks Hit Market at Accelerating Rate, Boast Impressive Ranges

The number of available and announced models of new ZE heavy-duty trucks is expected to grow from 40 to 71 in the United States, Canada, China and Europe between 2020 and 2023 – a nearly 80 percent increase over just three years. During the same time period, the number of ZE commercial vehicles on the market in the United States, Canada, China and Europe is expected to grow nearly 30 percent, with 468 models on the market in 2020 and 606 models projected for 2023. These new figures come from Drive to Zero’s Zero-Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI), an interactive online tool that tracks the growth of the ZE commercial vehicles globally, as measured by model availability. (LINK)

The Top Five Commercial ZEV Findings from the IEA’s Global EV Outlook 2021

The global electric vehicle market has continued to grow and diversify during the past year’s turbulent automotive market, according to the International Energy Agency’s annual Global EV Outlook for 2021. CALSTART / Drive to Zero supported the research and development of the medium- and heavy-duty (MHDV) segments and are pleased to share some of the top-level takeaways. The findings in this blog reflect the stated research from the Global EV Outlook, with graphics added from other sources to emphasize the report’s target research results. (LINK)

E-Commerce Boom Will Speed Zero-Emission Truck Adoption

All signs indicate the e-commerce boom – sparked by the global COVID pandemic – is permanently changing the way we shop. This shift from browsing the aisles to browsing online for everything from groceries to clothing to personal items comes at a serendipitous time. Battery costs for certain classes of commercial vehicles are declining so rapidly that some applications already, or soon will, boast a better business case when compared to their diesel counterparts. (LINK)

California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) Prepared to Relaunch

HVIP will open to new voucher requests on June 8, 2021 with more than $160 million available in new and recycled funding (half of the funds will be reserved for applications received after August 10, 2021). In preparation, HVIP has launched a revamped website with an updated vehicle catalog, resources for purchasers and sellers, and more. The FY20-21 Implementation Manual and dealer training will be provided before HVIP re-opens. (LINK)

CALSTART Proposal Selected as a Top Proposal for Nationally Electrifying Transport by The Clean Economy Employment Now (CLEEN) Project

CALSTART’s proposal to Spur US Medium- and Heavy-Duty EV Manufacturing via Point-of-Sale Incentive has garnered the attention of policy experts and is one of three top recommendations in The CLEEN Project’s thematic release today on Electrifying Transport: Ideas for the United States to Lead the EV Revolution. The point-of-sale incentive proposal is one highlighted policy in The CLEEN Project’s co-operative database, a searchable collection of actionable ideas to combat climate change, Build Back Better, and advance climate justice. (LINK)

CALSTART’s Clean Commercial Transportation Update: Take Five

Join us for this series of live updates on the latest in clean transportation news, packaged in an easily digestible five-minute format. In this fast-paced webcast hosted by CALSTART’s Bill Van Amburg, Executive Vice President, and Alycia Gilde, Senior Director, we cover key industry issues that will get you up to speed on the latest information that is moving our industry forward for good. The latest edition was broadcast Friday, May 21. (LINK)

News Updates

We are keeping our foot on the accelerator to bring you extra updates from the Global Drive to Zero campaign, so once again we only have a short space to bring you the month’s news updates.

In New York, the state legislature has passed a bill that follows California’s lead by requiring all new vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2035. The regulation, which awaits Governor Cuomo’s signature, requires all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to be zero-emission by 2045 and, where feasible, off-road vehicles to go zero-emission by 2035. New York City has already taken a lead in this space by signaling a transition to a fully zero-emission school bus fleet by 2035 – and through a new pilot of a remarkably cute all-electric street sweeper, the first such deployment in the nation.

The Quebec government has also targeted clean school buses with legislation that will convertnearly two-thirds of the province’s fleet to zero-emissions by 2030. Not far away in Toronto, theTransportation Commission will invest an additional CA$300 million to purchase hundreds of new zero-emission buses. These applications are complemented by recommendations found in a recent Pembina Institute report that targets how Canadian cities can benefit from switching to zero-emission delivery vehicles.

Large-scale, high-power infrastructure continues to expand to meet growing and anticipated demand:

The hydrogen used to fuel zero-emission truck investments is predicted to become cleaner, greener, and less expensive, according to a report by Bloomberg NEF. The research group expects hydrogen derived from renewable energy to out-compete hydrogen derived from fossil fuels in all modeled countries by 2030.

Reach out to us to share new information, potential partners, and innovative practices to achieve our Drive to Zero goals at info@globaldrivetozero.org. Follow us on Twitter @TeamDrivetoZero. Please feel free to share this newsletter with others. The updates described above and additional news stories are linked below.

– Dan Welch, Senior Project Manager, CALSTART

News Links

Events / Reports

  • Global EV Outlook 2021 (LINK)
  • Nations Must Drop Fossil Fuels, Fast, World Energy Body Warns (LINK)
  • A guide to electrifying urban delivery fleets in Canadian cities (LINK)
  • A strategy to decarbonize the global transport sector by 2050, explained (LINK)
  • Pathways to Build Back Better: Investing in Transportation Decarbonization (LINK)
  • Swiss re: The economics of climate change (LINK)

 Market

  • Hyzon Zero Carbon Alliance launched to advance hydrogen mobility supply chain (LINK)
  • It’s Not About Tesla—This B2B Vertical In The Electric Vehicle Industry Is Set To Explode (LINK)

 Fleet Deployments

  • The Toronto Transit Commission is looking to spend $300 million on green fleet expansion (LINK)
  • An NYC Street Sweeper Like You’ve Never Seen (LINK)
  • Nikola scales production, fueling stations as it books deal for 100 EVs (LINK)
  • Lion Electric wins order of 260 electric school buses (LINK)
  • Dachser to deliver emission-free in 11 EU cities (LINK)
  • Keolis wins a 100% electric bus contract in Gothenburg for €150M (LINK)

Manufacturers and Models: Trucks and Buses

  • Commercial clients in the US can register for Ford E-Transit van (LINK)
  • Lion Electric chooses Illinois for first U.S. plant (LINK)
  • StreetScooter production extended until end of 2022 (LINK)

Manufacturers and Models: Port Equipment and Off-Road

  • Seine set for world’s first hydrogen powered cargo deliveries (LINK)
  • ABB to supply electric power systems for ten Lisbon ferries (LINK)

Government Policies

  • Quebec unveils detailed plan to electrify most school buses by 2030 (LINK)
  • Mayor de Blasio Commits to 100% Electric School Bus Fleet By 2035 (LINK)
  • New York State 2035 gas car ban passes through legislature, onto Cuomo (LINK)

Fuels & Infrastructure

  • Nikola Energy and Travelcenters of America to deploy hydrogen fueling infrastructure (LINK)
  • TeraWatt Infrastructure targets a nationwide charging network for electric vehicle fleets (LINK)
  • Mobility House to Save California School District $500K Via Smart Charging of New Electric School Buses (LINK)
  • ‘Green’ Hydrogen to Outcompete ‘Blue’ Everywhere by 2030 (LINK)
  • AlphaStruxure’s solar-powered, electric-bus-charging microgrid (LINK)
  • Hyzon Motors and Raven SR to install 100 green hydrogen hubs (LINK)
  • Electric Highway opens UK’s largest high power motorway charging site (LINK)
  • WattEV to build first ‘Megawatt E-Truck Stop’ in California (LINK)

 Batteries & Technology

  • Nuvve plots V2G charging at multi-megawatt scale (LINK)
  • Ultium Cells and Li-Cycle enter recycling cooperation (LINK)
  • Robotic charging solutions for heavy-duty EVs (LINK)

 Environment

  • Southern California warehouse boom a huge source of pollution. Regulators are fighting back (LINK)