GFO-20-306 – Research Hub for Electric Technologies in Truck Applications (RHETTA)

California has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improving air quality, and protecting the health of all Californians. The transportation sector is the largest source of GHG emissions in California and a major contributor to criteria pollutant emissions. Heavy-duty (HD) vehicles account for nearly 10 percent of the state’s GHG emissions and 26 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx).To address these impacts, the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan established targets to improve freight efficiency, transition to zero-emission (ZE) technologies, and increase the competitiveness of California's freight system. Recently the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Advanced Clean Trucks regulation established requirements for truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of ZE trucks in California, potentially ramping-up to deploy over 300,000 ZE trucks between 2024 and 2035. Replacing combustion-powered drayage trucks with ZE alternatives can greatly improve regional air quality, reduce health impacts on nearby communities, and reduce GHG emissions. However, drayage fleets beginning to adopt battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) face challenges related to understanding the performance and flexibility of BEV drayage trucks to meet their operational needs, and to installing necessary charging infrastructure in locations with limited physical space and electrical capacity. Although near-commercial BEV drayage trucks have sufficient range for many short haul operations with predictable return-to-base configurations, fleets may be reluctant to purchase BEVs that cannot flexibly cover all their routes. Variability in payload weight, driver behavior and conditions, and route characteristics create additional uncertainty in how fleet operators can incorporate BEV drayage trucks in real-world operations. Battery-electric drayage trucks are only beginning to be evaluated through large-scale demonstrations and deployments. CARB and the California Energy Commission (CEC) are partnering to fund deployment of a fleet of 50 or more electric drayage trucks and installation of centralized depot charging infrastructure. Truck original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are investing heavily in commercialization of Class 8 battery electric trucks, with approximately six near-commercial products being tested today. The CARB-CEC demonstration will evaluate OEMs’ ability to produce BEV drayage trucks at high volumes and the ability of local distribution infrastructure to provide sufficient power to charge a large fleet.

Eligibility

• Programs related to research and development
• Programs related to infrastructure
• Programs related to electric vehicle
• Programs related to transit

Award details

Applications close on March 29, 2021.

Categories

Equipment Purchase · Infrastructure · Rd Grants · Sustainability