Last month, California passed a first-in-the-world rule that, among other things, requires all new medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold in the state to be electric or hydrogen-fueled by 2036, building on a previous truck rule passed in 2020.
The state has also banned the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
The momentum is only gaining for the biggest transition in transportation since the rise of gas-powered vehicles, with big implications for improving local air pollution and slashing planet-heating emissions.
Pollution from the tailpipes of passenger cars and big-rig trucks are California’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and unhealthy smog, according to the California Air Resources Board, which regulates air pollution in the state.
If all goes to plan, the new trucking fleet rules are expected to:
- Get 100% of port drayage trucks, last-mile delivery, and government fleets to be tailpipe-emissions-free by 2035
- 100% zero-emission refuse trucks and local buses by 2040
- Nearly half of all semi-trucks on California highways are expected to be electric or hydrogen-powered by 2035, about 70% by 2042, with the final goal being 100% by 2045.
Not only are these policies expected to help slash emissions, the electrification transition is also expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs, with projections for 2050 about double the potential job creation as traditional diesel, according to a 2019 study.
That growth is already happening, particularly on the passenger vehicle side. In 2021, for example, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that electric vehicle jobs jumped 26.2% from 2020.
Training a new workforce at Southern California community colleges
Last week, students from Rio Hondo College and San Bernardino Valley College gathered around a huge Volvo all-electric semi-truck, peering into the engine. They were getting a tour of all the latest zero-emission truck tech at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Usually held in Long Beach, the Expo was nearly twice as large as usual this year, requiring it be held at the larger venue — a signal that the medium- and heavy-duty truck industry is gaining momentum in the transition away from fossil fuels.
The students ranged from newly graduated high schoolers to seasoned auto and truck industry workers. Their programs are now part of the Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative, or JETSI, a pilot project that aims to demonstrate how fleets can rapidly transition from diesel, that is also partnering with Rio Hondo and San Bernardino Valley colleges to train the next generation of technicians and drivers.
John Frala has been the Advanced Transportation Technology Alternative Fuels Instructor at Rio Hondo for 25 years. He said the program is currently graduating the most technicians for Tesla vehicles than anywhere in the nation, having graduated 300 technicians in just the last eight years. Those numbers are only expanding to more companies as the electrification of medium- and heavy-duty trucks ramps up.
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