Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Action Plan
Seventeen U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian province of Quebec worked together through the Multi-State Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Task Force, a coalition facilitated by NESCAUM, to produce a bold Action Plan for accelerating a transition to zero-emission trucks and buses.
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Transportation of freight and people is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. Medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) vehicles—including large pick-up trucks and vans, delivery and box trucks, school and transit buses, and long-haul delivery trucks—contribute significantly to these emissions, which are putting the Earth’s climate in peril. They also produce harmful emissions of particulates and smog-forming nitrogen oxides that disproportionately impact public health in communities located near freight hubs, bus depots, and trucking corridors.
This Action Plan is the culmination of two years of work by the ZEV Task Force identifying barriers and opportunities for rapid and equitable truck and bus electrification and actionable policy and program recommendations for state policymakers, utilities, and utility regulators. The plan also includes recommendations for local and federal government policymakers.
Jurisdictions that worked together and with NESCAUM to produce the Action Plan include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Quebec.
Development of the Action Plan
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announced in July 2020 directed the Multi-State ZEV Task Force, a unique forum that has galvanized state leadership on light duty vehicle electrification since 2014, to develop an Action Plan to recommend strategies to accelerate the deployment of electric trucks and buses with a focus on communities overburdened by higher levels of air pollution.
The MOU also established goals to make at least 30 percent of new MHD vehicle sales ZEVs by 2030, and 100 percent of sales ZEVs by no later than 2050.
To inform the development of the Action Plan, the ZEV Task Force directly engaged many public and private sector experts, partners, and stakeholders—including equity and environmental justice organizations, truck and bus manufacturers, industry and technology experts, charging and fueling providers, utility companies, public and private fleet representatives, commercial financing experts, and environmental advocates. The ZEV Task Force also received public comments on the draft Action Plan.
Key Announcements During Plan Development
Online Learning Resources
Informational Webinars:
NESCAUM held a series of webinars for the multi-state ZEV Task Force to inform the development of the Action Plan. Recordings of the webinars are available below:
- Understanding the Truck Market, Multi-State ZEV Task Force Webinar, October 29, 2020
- Early Experiences in Truck Electrification: A Panel Discussion with Commercial and Public Sector Fleets, November 24, 2020
- Transit and School Bus Electrification, December 17, 2020
Note: the recording begins five minutes after the start of the webinar. - The Role of Utilities in Accelerating Electrification of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles, January 7, 2021
- The Utility Role in MHDV Electrification: Building the Infrastructure and Managing Costs, January 21, 2021
- Innovative Finance to Accelerate Truck and Bus Electrification, April 1, 2021
- Prioritizing Transportation Policy for Health and Equity, December 9, 2021
Want to learn more?
Check out these online resources:
- EV Hub’s Resource Library provides a compilation of recent reports on MHD vehicle electrification and a brief description of each report.
- CALSTART’s Zero Emission Technology Inventory tool provides interactive information on commercially available zero-emission MHD vehicles by region.