After a whirlwind of electric vehicle (EV) developments in the past few years, transportation sectors around the world have taken notice and are increasingly moving towards setting zero-emission goals with the help of EVs. Three years ago, a global movement — World EV Day — was created to celebrate these accelerating efforts.
Established by Green.TV, a sustainability media company, the annual event has been marked by OEM product announcements, discussed in Britain’s parliament, and even lauded by Gina McCarthy, the former Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The movement has also seen success on social media, with more than 300 million Twitter impressions last year and a media reach of more than one billion globally.
During this time of emobility celebration and commemoration, it is important to look to the stepping stones leading to this universal shift in transportation emissions reductions. While technology has fueled the momentum of this change, the increase in OEM EV model announcements, the upcoming government funding opportunities, and the road laid by demonstrations such as the Volvo LIGHTS and JETSI projects have clearly accelerated the EV movement to where it is today.
Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) was a collaboration between the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Volvo Trucks, and 12 other organizations to demonstrate what is needed for the commercial success of battery-electric trucks and equipment. The three-year project, which recently wrapped up at the end of August, included partners such as NFI Industries, Dependable Highway Express, TEC Equipment, Shell Recharge Solutions, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Southern California Edison, CALSTART, University of California, Riverside CE-CERT, Reach Out, Rio Hondo College, and San Bernardino Valley College, all of which were instrumental in developing programs and best practices to lay the foundation for the successful commercialization of battery-electric freight trucks.
The Joint Electric Truck Scaling Initiative, or JETSI, which is currently underway in Southern California, will deploy 100 battery-electric trucks for fleets NFI Industries and Schneider National. The project is being jointly financed by California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission with an award of $27 million. JETSI is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities.
Along the way, we cannot forget the fuels and technologies that continue to help fleets reduce emissions and reach their sustainability goals, including natural gas and propane, as well as hydrogen, which is starting to gain a greater position in the clean fuel spotlight. Along the way, ACT News will continue to provide our audience with insight into the evolving industry landscape.
