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States Target Equitable Access, Ride Sharing, and Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles
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The first half of 2021 has seen a flurry of state action on transportation electrification.
Nevada and Colorado both took steps to boost funding for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. On May 31st, Nevada’s Legislature passed SB 448, which will require the state’s largest utility, NV Energy, to invest $100 million in charging infrastructure over the next three years with a minimum of 40 percent of this investment required to be made in underserved communities. Two days later, Colorado’s Legislature passed SB 260, a sweeping transportation spending bill worth over $5 billion that includes dedicated funding for EVs and EV charging infrastructure. The bill establishes the Clean Fleet Enterprise within the Department of Public Health and Environment and the Clean Transit Enterprise within the Department of Transportation to specifically support the electrification of private and transit fleets. Funding comes from the federal American Rescue Plan as well as new fees imposed on gasoline and diesel fuel sales, parcel deliveries, and TNC rides. Both bills now sit on the Governors’ desks.
In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 2165 into law on May 26th, expanding access to electric vehicles and charging infrastructure with a strong focus on equity. The bill extends the state’s EV rebate programs and doubles the bonus rebate for low- and moderate-income households to $2,500 for used vehicles and $5,000 for new vehicles. With the new rebate in place, income-qualified customers can get a state rebate of up to $5,000 off a used car or $7,500 off a new car. Furthermore, the bill establishes a new transportation electrification utility surcharge and directs at least half of the funds collected to benefit underserved communities.
California and Hawaii are both taking aim at shared mobility companies, which account for a growing percentage of vehicle miles traveled in the United States. On May 20th, following the direction of SB 1014 (2018), the California Air Resources Board approved the Clean Miles Standard, which requires 90 percent of vehicle miles traveled by Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft to be fully electric by 2030. Earlier this year, Democrats in Hawaii’s House introduced legislation that would require rental car fleets to transition to 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2035. HB 1141 is currently in committee in the House. Shared mobility vehicles have become popular targets for electrification because they tend to travel more miles on average than private passenger vehicles, leading to greater operational savings and emissions reduction benefits on a per-vehicle basis.
On the medium- and heavy-duty side, New Jersey and New York are both moving to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule that sets zero-emission sales requirements for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice in April signaling the state’s intentions to adopt California’s rule and opened a public review and comment process that will remain open through June 18, 2021. New York Senate Democrats introduced Senate Bill S4097 in April to direct the Commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to establish formal regulations similar to those under California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule. As other states follow suit, California is working on complementary legislation before the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule takes effect in 2024. The California State Senate passed SB 372 on June 2nd, which would establish a medium- and heavy-duty fleet purchasing assistance program to help fleets comply with the upcoming regulation.
Keep track of all these bills and more on the EV Hub’s new State Policy Dashboard.
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Join Us for EV Hub Live Next Tuesday (June 22nd)
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EV Hub Live Episode #10: Roadmap Roundup
June 22 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT
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Forth’s Roadmap Conference is one of the premiere EV conferences in the world. Every year, the EV community convenes in Portland, Oregon to explore emerging trends, share best practices and lessons learned, and build the road ahead. Like last year, this year’s conference will be virtual but the event promises to be full of valuable information for all who can attend.
In this episode of EV Hub Live, Nick Nigro will be joined by Jeff Allen, the Executive Director of Forth, the organizer of the Roadmap Conference. Jeff and Nick will discuss the key takeaways from this year’s conference and what lies ahead for EVs in the near term.
Subscribe to our channel and watch all the episodes on YouTube.
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Follow the EV Hub on Twitter!
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The EV Hub is active on Twitter and we encourage you to retweet or like anything you found useful. Follow us for relevant media stories and updates to EV Hub resources throughout the week!
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UPDATE: New Media Pulse Dashboard
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Atlas EV Hub has reimagined the Media Pulse Dashboard to help you stay on top of the latest EV news. You can now track new stories by category, state, or publisher and access the latest stories straight from the dashboard with one easy click.
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Our choice clips from last week:
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Inslee Passes on WA Bill Setting Conditional Target to Electrify All Passenger Vehicle Sales by 2030
On May 15, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee turned down a bill passed by lawmakers in both houses in April that would have required all passenger vehicle sales to be electrified by 2030. The bill states the requirement is contingent upon the completion of comprehensive assessments of the impacts of this transition and on the state implementing a tax on vehicle miles travelled. This amendment was the sticking point for the Governor, who supports the 2030 target but does not believe it should be tied to road funding mechanisms. This activity follows similar commitments in California and Massachusetts which set a goal of 2035 to reach 100 percent zero emission passenger vehicle sales. Public officials in New Jersey have also recommended that the state follow suit and adopt a goal of their own. Read More Here
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New Jersey Set to Become the Second State to Formally Implement Advanced Clean Truck Regulation
On Wednesday, April 14th, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of rule proposal announcing their intention to adopt regulations modeled after California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (ACT). The proposed rulemaking is part of New Jersey’s comprehensive strategy to meet the state’s statutory requirement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent less than the 2006 levels by 2050. New Jersey was one of 15 states to sign on to NESCAUM’s Zero-Emission Truck and Bus MOU in July 2020 and will become the second state to formalize their commitment to zero-emission trucks and buses through an official rule. Read More Here
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Virginia Becomes 13th State to Join the ZEV Program
On March 18th, 2021, Governor Ralph Northam signed HB 1965 into law. This makes Virginia the 13th state, and the only state in the Southeast region, to join the California-led ZEV program. The program, which requires manufacturers to make available for sale an increasing proportion of EVs across the state, has also been adopted by California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Both New Mexico and Minnesota are going through the regulatory process, which could result in them adopting the ZEV program as well. Read More Here
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Below are current job openings in transportation electrification:
If you have a job posting you would like to share with EV Hub users, please send them to us in an email at info@atlasevhub.com.
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The Roadmap team is already planning an exceptional virtual Roadmap Conference to share leading-edge insights and case studies from around the world. With so many can’t-miss program submissions, we have expanded Roadmap 2021 to three days! Join us from June 14-16 to help create the Roadmap for a clean, efficient, accessible transportation future for all. Join Event.
June 14-16th
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Join the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), and Electrification Coalition (EC) for a conversation on a policy agenda to improve our nation’s electric vehicle and transportation infrastructure. Join Event.
June 15th @ 1:30pm EST
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Join Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, CEC Commissioner Patricia Monahan and Veloz Executive Director Josh Boone for the kick-off event for the new online series: “Baden-Württemberg – California: A Transatlantic Platform for Future Mobility Solutions.” Join Event.
June 15th @ 11:30am EST
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