Department of Transportation (DOT)

 

Federal Highway Admin. (FHWA)

 

New Biden Rule Requires States To Track CO2 Emissions — “Last week, the Biden administration finalized a new rule requiring states to track greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, despite opposition from ‘red’ states, and road, and bridge builders. The new rule, which generated nearly 40,000 comments on Freightwaves when it was formally proposed, requires each state’s DOT to establish declining carbon emissions targets using fuel sales, fuel efficiency, and vehicle-miles-traveled data, and report back their progress to the feds. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established 2022 as the reference year against which results and (one hopes) progress will be measured. The new FHWA rule builds on the EPA’s updated emission standards for heavy-duty commercial vehicles for the 2027 model year. The updated EPA standard was passed last year and tightens tailpipe NOx limits to a level 80%-plus below the current standard while reducing the particulate matter limit by 50%. The EPA also requires that OEMs extend warranties to 450,000 miles from 100,000 and useful life limits to 650,000 miles from 435,000 miles.” [CleanTechnica, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

FHWA Sets Emission Performance Measures For State DOTs — “The Federal Highway Administration has issued a final rule establishing greenhouse gas performance measures for state Departments of Transportation and metropolitan planning organizations. FHWA’s finalized performance measure provides a national framework for state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations to track transportation-related greenhouse gas emission. According to the final rule, state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations are required to establish declining carbon dioxide targets. They are to report on progress toward the achievement of those targets. The final rule only establishes a framework for measurement. It does not mandate how low greenhouse gas emission targets must be. State DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations have flexibility to set targets that are appropriate for their communities and that work for their respective climate change and other policy priorities, as long as the targets aim to reduce emission over time.” [Land Line, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

 

Truck Manufacturers

 

Geely

 

Mack Adds Two New Full-Service EV Infrastructure Partners — “Mack Trucks has expanded its Turnkey Solutions program for battery-electric vehicle customers by adding two new full-service partners, InCharge Energy and Blink Charging. These partnerships are two of four that Mack Trucks currently has with charging infrastructure development companies. The Turnkey Solutions program is an end-to-end fleet management service for all aspects of developing infrastructure, including charging hardware, software, site design, obtaining permits, installation, utility coordination, and equipment maintenance. Mack has two electric offerings: the Mack LR Electric and the Mack MD Electric. ‘Mack Trucks is focused on simplifying the transition to BEV for our customers to help increase the adoption rate of sustainable transportation,’ said Jonathan Randall, president of Mack Trucks North America. ‘We have our own team dedicated to e-mobility solutions, and through the Turnkey Solutions program, we’ve established a holistic program to support the charging needs of our customers.’” [FleetOwner, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

Proterra Inc.

 

Proterra Gets OK For $210M Battery Biz Sale To Volvo — “A Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday gave electric-bus maker Proterra Inc. the go-ahead to sell its battery business to Volvo for $210 million after being told the bid was the best offer on the table. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon said he was satisfied that Volvo’s bid had been the best offer for that segment of Proterra’s business and gave the company approval to close the sale. Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in August with $199 million in funded debt, saying it needed to reorganize and raise capital due to inflation, supply chain issues and ‘burdensome’ customer contracts. Earlier this month, the company announced it would be seeking court approval for the sale of its battery-making Proterra Powered business to Volvo for $210 million and the sale of Proterra Transit, its bus-manufacturing division, to California-based Phoenix Motor Inc. for $10 million. Last week, a number of Proterra customers filed objections to the Proterra Transit sale, saying they had not seen evidence Phoenix would be able to complete their outstanding bus orders or fulfill Proterra’s warranties on existing vehicles, and Proterra adjourned the Proterra Transit sale motion on Sunday.” [Law360, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

 

Fleet Operators

 

Schneider National Inc.

 

Schneider’s Freightliner eCascadias Reach 1 Million-Mile Mark — “Freightliner eCascadia battery-electric trucks operated by Schneider reached 1 million zero-emission miles carrying customer freight, the carrier said. Green Bay, Wis.-based Schneider began carrying freight on eCascadias in January and currently has 92 BETs, the company said Nov. 20. Based out of Schneider’s South El Monte Intermodal Operations Center in the metropolitan Los Angeles area, the trucks are charged using 16 350-kilowatt stations that can refuel two trucks each. The charging station was completed in June. Funding for 50 of Schneider’s 92 eCascadias came from the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative, the first BET project jointly funded by the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission. The others were funded through a combination of state, federal and private backing, many through CARB’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program.” [Transport Topics, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

 

Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

 

RV Manufacturer Designs The Electric RV Charging Station Of The Future — “If all ICE vehicles are supposed to be replaced with EVs, there’s a big problem to solve: RVs. Unlike large commercial trucks, there’s no profit to be made operating an RV. So, people probably can’t afford the equivalent of the Tesla Semi in many cases. Sure, the Million Dollar RV Club would have no problem buying a Class A motorhome with a megawatt-hour of battery storage, but the rest of us poors are going to have to tow a smaller camper behind our regular EVs. But, whether you’re driving a big RV with a giant battery pack or you’re pulling a trailer of any size, we have a common problem: we don’t fit in many EV charging stations. With a trailer, you can unhitch the thing and pull into the space to charge, but doing that over and over and over sucks. With a bus-like contraption, you’re either not going to charge up or you’re going to make people mad by blocking an aisle or something. The problem is in the process of being solved, at least partialy. In NEVI plans, Texas and other states added a requirement that EV charging stations using those Infrastructure Law funds be pull-thru, allowing vehicles and trailers to put the charging station on either side with plenty of room for an RV or trailer without unhooking. Private efforts, like those EVgo, GM, and Pilot/Flying J trucks stops are building up, are also providing pull-thru charging spaces.” [CleanTechnica, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

 

States & Local

 

New York

 

New York City Will Redesign Its Truck Routes — “For the first time in decades, New York City truck routes are about to undergo significant changes. Recently, the New York City Council approved 44-1 of legislation to redesign the city’s truck routes to improve safety, increase visibility, reduce traffic congestion and reduce vehicle miles traveled. New York City truck routes have not been significantly updated since they were created in the 1970s. According to Introduction 0708, the New York City Department of Transportation will be required to consult with city agencies, community boards and business improvement districts, as well as representatives from businesses, environmental and climate justice organizations, street safety organizations and the trucking, logistics and last-mile delivery industries. The bill also would require that NYCDOT assess whether daylighting or daylighting barriers should be implemented at intersections on the truck route network, as well as review and replace truck route signage where necessary. Daylighting is defined as the use of street design elements, including the removal of parking, for enhancing the visibility of cross traffic and pedestrians for motorists within 25 feet of an intersection. It also may involve the imposition of turn restrictions.” [Land Line, 11/28/23 (=)]

 

Rhode Island

 

'Welcome To The Future': New Electric School Buses Hit Providence Streets — “If you weren’t looking, you wouldn’t have known that one of Providence’s new school buses had left the First Student garage Monday morning. With its electric motor humming, the bus rolled almost silently onto the street for a demonstration run before it goes into operation next week. The lack of noise is just one of the benefits that officials touted of the investment in four electric buses that will soon start picking up and dropping off students in the Providence Public School District. The buses don’t belch clouds of diesel exhaust that compromise air quality and contribute to climate change. They run on electricity, which is increasingly supplied by renewable sources. They’re not expected to cost much more over their lifetimes than conventional buses. And they’re made in the United States.” [The Providence Journal, 11/28/23 (+)]

 

 

 

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To receive Trucks Clips or other Clean Vehicles Coalition (CVC) materials, please contact Al-Batool Ibrahim

(aibrahim@partnershipproject.org)

 

For any other questions or comments, please contact Mitch Dunn

(mitch@beehivedc.com)