Zero-Emission Truck Deployment Remains Flat
A Calstart report shows that zero-emission truck sales comprised only 2.6% of all truck sales during the first half of 2024.
2024 appears to have been a rough year for the sale of zero-emission trucks.
According to Calstart, a nonprofit organization with goals to advance clean transport in the freight industry, ZE truck deployment has remained flat after a spike in 2023. Their data comes from their latest market update, “Zeroing In On Zero-Emission Trucks Series,” which they have been collecting up until June 2024.
The Current Usage of Zero-Emission Trucks
As of writing, about 42,500 ZE trucks are currently operating worldwide. This number spiked up from 30,030 near the end of 2023, but deployment has slowed drastically since then.
While ZE truck adoption has shown an increase in cargo cans, medium and heavy-duty trucks have remained at a flat rate for 18 months. Cargo vans made up 88% of the increase in sales during the latest spike at 11,900 new vehicles being deployed.
Possible Reasons For Flat Deployment Rates
A handful of different reasons potentially cause the reasons for the lack of increase in zero-emission truck sales:
- High Purchase Price
- Infrastructure delays for building charging stations
- Higher costs for insurance and monthly lease payments
Since the technology is newer, there is not as much collected data for insurance companies to reference as traditional trucks. There is also regulatory uncertainty at both state and federal levels. This leaves fleets unsure when it comes to how much money they are willing to invest in ZE technology.
2030 Federal Climate Target and ZETs
According to Calstart, the freight industry is not on track to meet the federal climate targets for 2030 and beyond. It suggests that the industry can make progress towards that goal by using ZETs in the following ways:
- local return-to-base operations
- First-and-last mile delivery
- Implementation in drayage
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach currently have 415 ZETs in their drayage registry and plan on increasing their numbers. These trucks are said to be operating efficiently and are meeting operational demands.
The top 3 leading states using zero-emission trucks are:
- California – 6,313 ZETs
- Texas – 4155 ZETs
- Florida – 3,744 ZETs
And while not at the top, the fastest-growing states for ZETs are Maryland, New York, and Oregon.
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