California's South Coast Air Quality Management District, which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, announced that it would receive $23.6 million from the state for a zero-emission drayage truck development and demonstration project in association with air-quality districts in the San Francisco area, Sacramento, San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley.
The project involves 43 zero-emission battery electric and plug-in hybrid drayage trucks serving major California ports, the district said, and demonstration trucks and charging infrastructure will be used in all five air districts.
“This project will help put the very cleanest shorthaul trucks to work where they are needed most, moving cargo from the state’s biggest ports to distribution centers and rail yards,” California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols said in a statement.
“This is good news — and cleaner air — for all Californians, but especially those who live in neighborhoods next to these industrial facilities or along some of our state’s busiest trade corridors,” Nichols added.
The agency said this is the first large-scale demonstration of zero-emission Class 8 trucks that involves major manufacturers, including Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., both units of Paccar Inc., Volvo Group and China-based BYD Motors.
“BYD is a worldwide leader in battery technology,” Stella Li, president of BYD Motors, said in a statement, “and as the OEM providing the most battery-electric trucks under this solicitation, I believe other fleets will take notice and recognize that battery-powered drayage trucks are reliable and available for wider deployment today. We look forward to celebrating the delivery of our first battery-electric drayage truck in the fall of this year.”
The project is part of the California Climate Investments, which use proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade auctions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, the district said.
Separately, BYD unveiled electric trucks at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo last week in Long Beach.
The fully electric Class 8 is designed specifically for drayage and local or urban deliveries, the company said. It has a range of 92 miles and is powered with BYD’s iron phosphate battery technology.
Also, BYD showed a Class 6 with a range of 124 miles that can serve as a refrigerated box, a stake bed or with a bucket depending on the application.
Also on view were a Class 5 with a range up to 155 miles and a step-van with up to 100 miles.
