What's Next for Electric Trucks in 2023

Today marks my 1-year anniversary at CALSTART . And boy, what a wild yet productive year it's been! I've built relationships with amazing colleagues and member orgs, coordinated fleet working groups, submitted comments to Colorado policymakers, and accomplished a lot - from pulling off an incredible Zero-Emission Truck Showcase + Ride & Drive in California to supporting the team that won an $8 million award to pilot truck-as-a-service business models and workforce development programs in New York. I even earned a promotion along the way. Oh, and the US signed onto the Drive to Zero MOU. NBD.

And that's all just what I've been up to at CALSTART. The broader electric truck world saw seemingly infinite headlines this past year. For example, 亚马逊 rolled out electric delivery vans in >100 cities and ordered >300 electric yard tractors. The California Air Resources Board approved a historic investment in zero-emission trucks. Vermont became the 7th state to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) standard, while North Carolina moved one step closer to joining. The Port of Long Beach became the first to open publicly-accessible charging for heavy-duty electric trucks. Tesla delivered its long-awaited Semi to 百事 . Volvo Group and the largest operator of travel centers in North America, Pilot Flying J , partnered to develop a national, public charging network for electric trucks. And that was all just in Q4!

Suffice it to say that 2022 was a great year for electric trucks. However, it also elevated some critical challenges that the industry will need to work together to overcome. We can't simply rest on our laurels or bury our heads in the sand hoping for miraculous solutions. Rather, we need to lean in and turn our attention toward the areas most crying out for it. The work continues! As my favorite fictional President, Jed Bartlet would say, "What's next?" And so as we kickoff the new year, I thought I'd take a moment to share the top 5 things that I'm excited about tackling in 2023 to help advance zero-emission trucks:

1. Streamlining Charging Infrastructure - Far and away, the biggest concerns I hear from fleets considering (or in the process of) deploying electric trucks are about charging infrastructure. "What level charger do I need?" "Why is my utility telling me it will take 2 years to get the power to my depot?" "What do I do if the grid goes down?" These are all critically important questions, each worthy of their own report-length response. And let's be honest - we don't yet know the answers to all of these. But what we do know is that a lot of work is needed in this area. That may include stop-gap solutions like deploying mobile chargers, near-term solutions like right-sizing chargers to duty cycles and promoting distributed energy resources like on-site solar power generation and battery storage, longer-term solutions like working with utilities and AHJs to streamline permitting processes and accelerate grid upgrades and interconnections, or - most likely - all of the above. But the important part is that we get started! (Bonus: I'm also excited to work on advancing high-power charging to enable corridors & long-haul electrification via eTRUC this year!)
2. Elevating Drivers' Voices - I have yet to meet a driver that's driven an electric truck and doesn't love it. That's been true across the drivers the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) profiled in Run on Less - Electric and those I spoke with at our Fontana Ride & Drive earlier this year. It's also been documented by NBC and most recently by CCJ —?Commercial Carrier Journal here. Drivers love the torque, the quiet operation, the latest tech, and the pride that they're not polluting their communities (or their own lungs!) Given that the driver shortage remains one of the leading industry concerns (overshadowed only by diesel prices), savvy fleets looking to improve driver attraction and retention should take heed. Those that don't invest in electric trucks risk losing their drivers to the competition. As such, I predict that we'll see much more recruitment marketing from fleets around electric trucks in 2023.
3. Connecting Fleets with Incentives - Whether it's via existing programs like HVIP, CORE, EnergIIZE, NYTVIP, NJ ZIP, and MOR-EV Trucks, or new offerings like Colorado's Clean Fleet Vehicle Technology Grants or the federal commercial clean vehicle tax credit, there's never been more funding available for electric trucks (and charging)! However, too many fleets still aren't aware of the money they're leaving on the table. That's why I plan to dedicate significant time in 2023 to not just educating fleets about the technology itself but also ensuring they know how to take advantage of available incentives to minimize or eliminate the incremental cost of this technology. I also hope to see additional states create new electric truck incentive programs (perhaps leveraging IRA coffers) and commit to ensuring they're able to benefit from CALSTART's hard-earned wisdom with respect to the most effective program designs (e.g., cash-on-the-hood vouchers, no scrappage requirements, etc.). I also expect equity to get more well-deserved attention in 2023 and hope to see additional states follow California's lead with respect to its Innovative Small E-Fleet (ISEF) program, ensuring incentives are available and sufficient for small fleets. Similarly, I hope to see more incentives made available not just for outright truck purchases but also for leases, rentals, and innovative bundled truck-as-a-service business models. Finally, along with incentives, I also hope to tackle some of the additional costs that make it harder for electric trucks to compete with ICE vehicles, including insurance and the federal excise tax.
4. Alleviating Supply Constraints - It's no secret that global supply chains have been disrupted over the past three years, impacting both electric and diesel trucks alike. And although electric trucks are often available for delivery sooner than ICE trucks, many fleets are still waiting nearly a year for vehicles (or aren't even able to order them due to closed books). On top of this existing backlog, the industry is reaching a tipping point as more and more fleets understand that the future is electric. Whether they're preparing for coming regulations, anticipating a lower TCO, or simply being required by shippers looking to achieve their ESG goals, carriers are demanding electric trucks at an unprecedented rate. As such, manufacturers need to dramatically increase production to match customer demand. OEMs need to retool facilities and move beyond demonstration vehicles to serial production. The new advanced manufacturing tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act can help.
5. Developing the Needed Workforce - As the Volvo LIGHTS project found, "Achieving widescale deployment of commercial BEVs and charging equipment will require a broad range of stakeholders to learn new and specialized skills, including truck technicians, drivers, first responders, charging solution providers, utility companies, and more." To date, most fleets have relied on hand-holding from OEMs for maintenance and repair support, though this will not remain feasible as deployments scale. Training in high-voltage safety, troubleshooting a host of new failure codes, and additional skills will be necessary for both the current and future workforce. The industry as a whole will need to work together to ensure that the energy transition delivers on the quality green job promises it's made. Luckily, progress is already underway. For example, as part of the LIGHTS project, Volvo opened a new training center in southern California and also partnered with Rio Hondo College and San Bernardino Valley College on workforce development. However, this work must be replicated beyond southern California and beyond Volvo. In 2023, CALSTART will kickoff its Freight Electrification-as-a-Service for Transformation (FEaST) project mentioned above, which includes workforce development alongside incredible partners like BlocPower , Green City Force , Consortium for Worker Education , ChargerHelp , CUNY Bronx Community College , Trucking Association of New York , and Empire Clean Cities . We have a lot to learn in this area, and we look forward to sharing our lessons with others.

Of course, I plan to work on a lot more than this in 2023, but again, these are the issues I'm most excited about tackling. Let me know what you think (and what I missed!) in the comments.