For Jobs & The Economy
While only a few years ago many people thought zero-emissions electric trucks were far off in the future, the technology and economics have advanced much more rapidly than anticipated. Those businesses and states that begin a transition to clean trucks earlier will reap more of the economic and health benefits.
Oregon stands to earn $21.2 billion in net benefits now that it has adopted two Clean Trucks rules in 2021, including an eventual savings of $1 billion per year for fleet owners due to cheap electric fuel and lower maintenance cost, and $87 million in annual investments in public charging infrastructure, which creates high-quality jobs. (2021 analysis)
Electric vans, buses, and trucks are affordable, scalable, and available.
AFFORDABLE
It’s cheaper today to own and operate an electric van, bus, or truck than it is a diesel version, in many cases. A recent analysis by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found an electric truck offers about 13% lower total cost of ownership compared to a diesel version, due to savings on fuel (electricity is much cheaper than diesel, especially in the Northwest) and lower maintenance costs.
In one example, it only takes the electric truck 3 years to overcome its higher sticker price and begin returning money to the owner, a total of $200,000 saved over 15 years. By 2030, it’s estimated an electric truck will cost the same up front, due to falling battery prices, and savings will begin immediately. In the meantime, the worker health improvement, productivity, and avoided sick days are all immediate term benefits.
SCALABLE
With technology available today for most truck, bus, and van applications, many large businesses are plunging full speed ahead into an electric transition for their fleets.
The 3 largest private fleets in the U.S., PepsiCo, Sysco and Walmart, are all testing and/or purchasing electric trucks now! There is demand for these trucks. Walmart wants to have all zero-emissions trucks by 2040.
Amazon hopes to have 10,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2022 and 100,000 by 2030. Household names with giant logistics operations are all in on electric trucks, like IKEA and DHL.
Anheuser-Busch, Frito-Lay, NFI, DHL and nine other companies recently wrapped up a three-week test of electric trucks on delivery routes across six different states and found “…electric trucks can match the range and refueling flexibility of their fossil-fueled predecessors…. Most, in fact, never dropped below 50 percent charge on their batteries…” Electric truck, bus, and van models on the market today, could handle at least half of the millions of daily commercial trips needed across the U.S. economy, “ranging from taking beer and potato chips to grocery stores to moving cargo containers between seaports and distribution centers.”
The global industry is already proving it can electrifying fast, but unfortunately Oregon and United States are far behind international rivals. From the beginning of 2015 to the end of 2018, Shenzhen, China’s fleet of electric logistics vehicles, vans, and light/medium trucks expanded from 300 to approximately 61,857, representing approximately 35% of the city’s overall fleet of urban delivery vehicles.
AVAILABLE
Manufacturers plan to release approximately 25 long-range zero-emission truck models by 2022 (Only five are fuel cell (FC) trucks. The rest are powered by lithium ion batteries. The California Air Resources Board estimates there are more than 70 different models of zero-emission vans, trucks and buses that already are commercially available from several manufacturers.
OPPORTUNITY
Adopting the Advanced Clean Truck and Heavy Duty Omnibus Low-NOx rules will move Oregon to a leadership position in the fast-growing global market for zero-emission trucks, inspiring investments and innovations in anticipation of strong clean truck standards.
Oregon has more than a dozen businesses working on advanced clean, fuel-efficient vehicles manufacturing-- employing more than 1,000 Oregonians. Adopting these rules will supercharge this sector of the economy and Oregon stands to benefit from that growth. (BGA 2017)
Daimler Trucks North America designs and manufactures electric trucks right here in Oregon, employing hundreds, with the opportunity to expand their operations, which will create construction, engineering, and other jobs in addition to the increased manufacturing jobs.
Electrical workers in Oregon are ready for the jobs of the future right now. Increasing use of zero emissions trucks means a need for many, many new charging stations. Highly skilled, union electricians, who earn much higher than average wages, will be needed for this expanded work.
Oregon won’t be acting alone. This year alone New Jersey, New York, Maine, and Massachusetts are looking to adopt Clean Truck policies. California, Oregon and Washington have now put at least one of the two rules in place, uniting the West Coast. Working together, states will move the market more quickly and those who adopt first will be first in line for the rewards.