Dear Drive to Zero Pledge Partners and Allies:

With COP26 just around the corner, this is a critical time to demonstrate your support and leadership so that we can more prominently frame zero-emission commercial vehicles as part of our global climate solution. CALSTART and the Netherlands are co-leading a new landmark global agreement to accelerate the zero-emission truck and bus segment. National governments will need to join forces with industry and sub-national governments to fulfill the ambition of this agreement and we ask you to consider demonstrating your support. Please endorse this effort ahead of its official announcement on November 10. If you wish to endorse it, please follow the link below:

https://globaldrivetozero.org/MOUendorsement/

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

Drive to Zero Program Progress and Updates

Drive to Zero at COP26

As parties gather in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31^st to November 12^th for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, Drive to Zero is organizing and/or participating in several activities to raise the profile and accelerate the deployment of zero-emission commercial vehicles:

Zero-Emission Trucks and Buses: A Part of the Climate Solution

For Economist Impact’s rEV Index series of influencer blogs, CALSTART’s Global Director Cristiano Façanha explains why the time is right (and of the essence) to phase out internal combustion engines for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Façanha urges governments to have stronger ambitions for converting to zero-emission trucks and buses. (LINK)

Clean Commercial Transportation Update (CCTU)

In case you missed it, check out CALSTART’s most recent live 30-minute update on the latest in clean transportation news. On October 15th, CCTU hosts Bill Van Amburg and Alycia Gilde shared a big announcement from Scania on production of a new long-haul battery electric truck, and discussed other exciting initiatives including Los Angeles’ zero-emission delivery zone and a new zero-emission vehicle corridor in Texas. Join us for our next episode on Friday, November 19, 2021 at 11AM Pacific for the latest industry news and trends. (LINK)

Call for Action on Charging Infrastructure

An accelerated transition to zero-emission transportation is gaining momentum and charging infrastructure plays a catalytic and pivotal role. The Transport Decarbonisation Alliance, with whom we collaborate very closely, has therefore launched a call for action on charging infrastructure to be presented at COP26 on Transport Day, November 10th 1-2pm Scotland time. If you are interested in participating on this call to action, please refer to the link below to access the file and respond to Katherine Lopez (katherine.lopez@tda-mobility.org). (LINK)

Drive to Zero Pledge Partner Update

The Drive to Zero pledge partner network continues to grow, and we are excited to welcome AlphaStruxure as the newest signatory. A joint-venture of Schneider Electric and the Carlyle Group, AlphaStruxure provides comprehensive energy-as-as-service solutions for zero-emission commercial vehicle fleets.

News Updates

All eyes are on COP26 right now, in hope that governments around the world will make major commitments to fight climate change. Thankfully, there’s a convoy of great news in the green transportation world, particularly for zero-emission trucks. Take a look at these quick-click articles:

• An event called Run On Less – Electric provided real-world proof that four different segments of medium- and heavy-duty trucks are ready for conversion to electric. Thirteen different battery-electric trucks successfully made 1,692 deliveries, covering nearly 7,000 miles. The batteries for most of the trucks in the test run never had less than a 50% charge.
• Electric conversion can’t cure white line fever, but a recent study showed that it can save money. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) just published that it had found that the powertrains of electric heavy-duty vehicles could offer lower total cost of ownership. The study compared six different types of powertrains, concluding that even electric Class 8 vehicles may provide savings compared to internal combustion engine counterparts.
• The World Economic Forum tackled the challenges that need to be overcome for most truck fleets to become zero-emission. Their report found three groups of solutions that can work to rapidly increase adoption of zero-emission trucks.
• The Pembina Institute’s Urban Solutions Delivery Initiative (UDSI) – a coalition of businesses, clean energy providers, fleet operators, and policy experts working to reduce urban freight emissions across Canada, of which Drive to Zero is a technical research partner – is a 2022 recipient of Canada’s Clean50 Top Project Award, recognizing Canadian leaders in environmental sustainability.
• Scania recently announced that they will enter production of a long-haul, battery electric truck in 2023. The truck will be capable of carrying loads up to 40 tons (80,000 lbs) at freeway speeds for four hours of travel, while recharging will take 45-60 minutes. It will use a new generation of batteries from the Sweden/northern Europe Northvolt production facility.
• Tevva, based in England, just announced that it had made a range breakthrough for zero-emission trucks. Using its fuel cell range extender, a 7.5 ton Tevva truck has a range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles). Production is slated to begin next year.
• Daimler Trucks is sharing what it has learned after the company’s Freightliner electric trucks reached a million miles of use. One important finding was how much energy the electric trucks recuperated through regenerative braking.
• Penske Truck Leasing, which has a history as an early adopter of new technology, just acquired Navistar International’s first five medium-duty battery-electric trucks. Previously, Penske had also used Class 6 and Class 8 battery-electric trucks from Freightliner.
• Volvo Trucks North America announced that it will team up with AMPLY Power on electric truck fleet charge managements programs. Volvo Trucks just secured its biggest electric truck deal yet, with the North American logistics firm DFDS ordering 100 of its trucks.
• The future looks bright for clean trucking, as Kenworth just predicted that, depending long haul applications’ performance, sales of zero-emission trucks may reach 180,000 unitsannually by 2040.

Outside of trucking, zero-emission conversion is advancing in a wide variety of applications. Saving the planet while saving lives: Lion Electric Company and Demers Ambulances announced that they are creating a purpose-built electric ambulance, set to start commercial production late next year. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, upped his commitment to fighting climate change, as he announced that all of Transport for London (TfL)’s new buses will be zero-emission models. Plug Power cleared the air by unveiling that it will create the largest green hydrogen production plant on the West Coast of the United States. By 2025, the company plans to supply 500 tons of liquid green hydrogen per day. There is urgent need for these advances, as the World Health Organization (WHO) just released a report finding that air pollution is worse than they had thought. They halved the recommended maximum for exposure to PM2.5.

Please 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.

– Justin Slosky, Technical Writer, CALSTART

News Links

Events / Reports

• Breakthrough Analysis Finds Electrified Heavy-Duty Vehicle Powertrains Could Provide Lower Total Cost of Ownership (LINK)
• Electric Trucks Make Sense — We Now Have Data To Prove It (LINK)
• Urban-freight coalition awarded for work to reduce emissions from deliveries (LINK)
• Road Freight Zero: Pathways to faster adoption of zero-emission trucks (LINK)

 Fleet Deployments

• Electric trucks could handle millions of short-haul routes across North America (LINK)
• Unlocking Access To EVs In Underserved Communities (LINK)
• ZEV market to hit 180,000 annual units by 2040: Kenworth (LINK)
• Four Critical Factors for Electrifying your Commercial Fleet (LINK)

Markets

• Nearly 200 electric CapMetro buses en route to Austin (LINK)
• India’s Shoonya campaign aims to boost electric last-mile deliveries (LINK)
• What have Daimler electric truck fleets taught over a million real world miles? (LINK)
• Penske Truck Leasing 1st customer for Navistar medium-duty electric (LINK)
• DFDS orders 100 FM Electric trucks (LINK)
• NYC Announces $75 Million in Funding for Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure to Expand Greenest Municipal Fleet (LINK)

Manufacturers and Models: Trucks and Buses

• Tevva presents 7.5 tonne truck with range extender (LINK)
• Lion & Demers present first fully-electric purpose-built ambulance (LINK)

Government Policies

• Mayor of London announces that all new buses will be zero-emission (LINK)
• Logistics giant commits to Gothenburg Green City Zone (LINK)

Financial Incentives

• There’s $44 Billion in Clean Energy Funds Up For Grabs (LINK)

Fuels & Infrastructure

• Volvo Trucks North America and AMPLY Power Collaborate on Charge Management Programs for Electric Truck Fleets (LINK)
• Plug Power to Build Largest Green Hydrogen Production Facility on the West Coast (LINK)
• Wireless charging corridor gains Momentum (LINK)

 Batteries & Technology

• Ballard & Forsee announces fuel cell partnership (LINK)
• Four Critical Factors for Electrifying your Commercial Fleet (LINK)

Environment

• Air pollution: Even worse than we thought – WHO (LINK)
• WHO slashes guideline limits on air pollution from fossil fuels (LINK)