Truck Manufacturers Promote an Electric Future but Stalling it Privately
Diesel trucks are among the worst polluters on the road in terms of both health and the environment. The industry is not in a hurry to change this.
Under pressure to phase out diesel-powered vehicles, prominent manufacturers have made several promises. Volvo aims to be "fossil-free" by 2040, and claimed in its most recent annual report that it is "driving the change" of the industry. Daimler Truck, the world's largest manufacturer of heavy vehicles, has pledged to sell entirely carbon-neutral trucks and buses in the United States, Europe, and Japan by 2039.
However, the trucking industry's lobbyists are working behind the scenes to postpone that clean-truck future. The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, which represents the nation's top truck manufacturers, has lobbied to reduce stricter federal regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. The business has also spearheaded a campaign to oppose a new California law, which has been accepted by five other states, requiring manufacturers to offer more zero-emission trucks.
Environmentalists claim that if truck manufacturers win, they will be allowed to continue selling diesel cars for a longer period of time, delaying the shift to electric power.
"What we've seen from their lobbying is that they want to commit to as little as possible," said Dave Cooke, senior vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Promises made in press releases are meaningless. They can claim we're establishing goals and spending money, but it doesn't mean we're getting results."
While the campaign to convert America's passenger vehicles to electric power is gaining momentum, the transformation for medium- and heavy-duty trucks is only getting started. Truck manufacturers claim they can only move as swiftly as the market permits, but environmentalists argue that these businesses have already delayed too long to electrify and will continue to do so in the absence of clear deadlines.
Policymakers are focusing on the industry because it produces toxic gases that kill thousands of people each year and contributes for about a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles in the United States. According to a recent American Lung Association analysis, moving to zero-emission trucks would save 66,800 lives over the next 30 years.
Truck manufacturers and their lobbyists claim there is no disparity between their public and private conduct.
Volvo Group North America's vice president of government relations and public affairs, Dawn Fenton, stated that the firm is "extremely dedicated to eventually getting to 100 percent fossil free by 2040."
However, she claims that government regulations fail to account for supply-chain snarls, a lack of a countrywide charging network, and the reality that electric vehicles are too expensive for certain purchasers. Volvo just signed a partnership with Amazon to sell 20 heavy-duty electric trucks, and the firm expects to finish an electric-truck charging corridor in California by next year. "There's so much we don't have control over," Fenton remarked.
The Environmental Protection Agency has began work on measures to reduce pollution and climate-warming emissions from trucks, buses, and delivery vans under President Biden's leadership. The first, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will strengthen truck pollution rules for the first time since 2001 while also tightening current greenhouse gas standards. The second rule would reduce greenhouse gas emissions beginning in model year 2030, hastening the shift to all-electric trucks.
Truck manufacturers and their lobbyists have met with EPA officials many times to push back, encouraging them to adopt a less stringent nitrogen dioxide limit, which affects the lungs. They have contended that the agency's proposal mandating them to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions by 90 percent by 2031 would be too expensive, diverting funds away from their electrification ambitions. They have also warned that this norm will raise truck prices, prompting consumers to postpone new purchases and leave older, dirtier, diesel-powered vehicles on the road for years.
In Washington, the sector looks to be making progress. The EPA's plan is weaker than California's new pollution law, which mandates that manufacturers begin rolling out cleaner vehicles in 2024. Climate activists have argued that it will do nothing to encourage electrification because it only compels specific types of vehicles — mostly school and transit buses, commercial delivery trucks, and short-haul tractors — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While truck manufacturers claim they must invest time and money to electrifying their fleets, they are battling legislation that would hasten the transition.
California air quality regulators passed a groundbreaking policy in 2020 requiring that by 2035, more than half of all trucks sold in the state have zero-emissions. It was the first law of its sort in the United States, and in order to execute it, state authorities must get an EPA waiver permitting them to impose stronger tailpipe regulations than the federal government.
The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association has contested the state's waiver request, claiming that it does not provide adequate advance time to manufacturers. The organization represents over 30 truck and bus manufacturers, including important companies such as Daimler Truck, Volvo, Paccar, Navistar, and Cummins, a diesel engine manufacturer.
"It's difficult for me to reconcile what these firms and their trade organization are doing against what they're claiming," said Margo Oge, an electric vehicle specialist who managed the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality from 1994 to 2012. "We're already seeing a lot more electric heavy-duty vehicles and buses." For the industry to be whining at this time, we've come a long way."
According to the California Air Resources Board, the state's air quality regulator, several of the corporations opposing the state's electrification objectives have collected money from the state's zero-emission incentive programs. Volvo has collected around $122 million from the board to develop electrified trucks and buses since 2017. Daimler has been awarded $100.5 million. Both businesses sell battery-powered vehicles in the United States, with ambitions to create hydrogen fuel-cell trucks capable of traveling larger distances in the coming years.
Under addition, in the recently approved Inflation Reduction Act, Congress provided a $40,000 tax credit for electric and hydrogen-powered trucks and buses.
"They're attempting to have it both ways," said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with the environmental litigation firm Earthjustice. "They're battling the regulations to require the technology while simultaneously seeking to claim credit for inventing it."
According to Jed Mandel, president of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, making California's promise of zero-emission vehicles a reality is more difficult than state authorities realize.
"Our issues are with the design" of the new law, he added, adding that it requires manufacturers to sell a variety of vehicles, from 18-wheeler trucks to school buses and delivery vans. The legislation forces truck manufacturers to offer a greater proportion of zero-emission cars each year, with the goal of eventually selling all-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell trucks by 2045.
"To California's credit," Mandel said, "they've spent a lot in infrastructure and incentives," but electric vehicles are still much more expensive than diesel trucks. The issue, he claims, is that "no one is obligated to acquire them."
California officials seek to stimulate the market by phasing out diesel-powered trucks. The board is set to debate a plan to phase out diesel truck sales by 2040 later this month. Other states are expected to follow suit.
However, the truck manufacturers' lobbying organization has attempted to deter other states from following California's lead, advising other environmental regulators to wait.
"Rapid adoption of California's rules in New Jersey will have significant unintended negative consequences that will harm the economy and the environment, and will set back, rather than advance, New Jersey's goals," EMA and other industry groups wrote to New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection, Shawn LaTourette, last year.
Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington all eventually adopted California's clean-truck law. These states account for around 20% of the country's medium- and heavy-duty truck market.
However, other states have decided against it, at least for the time being.
Fleet owners and other opponents voiced enough worries to halt the process in Maine, where the Board of Environmental Protection was debating whether to adopt California's truck electrification regulation late last year. "At this time, we have no further regulation anticipated," said Lynne Cayting, an official with the state's bureau of air quality, in an email.
The EPA is anticipated to decide whether to allow California to apply its new truck limits later this autumn. This might lead to a protracted legal struggle with truck makers, with unexpected effects. If the industry compromises this program, California air officials say they will have to crack down harder to battle air pollution, maybe with an even more draconian electrification mandate.