Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks May 2023 Market Update
K e y Ta k e a w a y s ●
About This market update is the third publication in CALSTART’s Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks series. Providing a concise and current snapshot of the dynamic U.S. medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) truck market (Class 2b–8), it presents deployment statistics for on-road zero-emission trucks (ZETs)1 and characterizes the existing U.S. MHD truck market. “Deployments” or “deployed sales” are defined as trucks that have been sold, delivered, and placed into service on U.S. roads. This update includes data on deployments from January 2017 through December 20222 and highlights key takeaways that can help guide future ZET deployments through insights into state-specific markets. These findings can be an essential component in the informed decision-making process of policymakers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and fleet owners.
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MHD ZET deployments in the United States continue to increase, exhibiting strong market growth. Since January 2017, annual MHD ZET deployments increased year-over-year by 104% in 2018, 23% in 2019, 60% in 2020, 397% in 2021, and 163% in 2022. As of December 2022, 136 non-pickup truck models are now available for purchase across over 41 manufacturers. The cumulative number of U.S. MHD ZET deployments has grown to 5,483 (from January 2017 to December 2022).3 Of the cumulative U.S. MHD ZET deployments (for which deployment locations are known), 59% were in states that—as of December 2022—have adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule,4 7% were in states that have signed the Multi-State Mediumand Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and 34% were in non-MOU states.5 In 2022 alone, 3,510 MHD ZETs were deployed, surpassing deployments of the previous five years (2017–2021) combined and representing breakthrough growth. Pickup trucks, which became available in 2022, represented nearly one-fourth (831) of these deployments. Of these 2022 deployments (for which deployment locations are known), 44% were in states that have adopted the ACT rule, 10% were in MOU states, and 46% were in non-MOU states.
CALSTART’s definition of ZETs are those that do not emit exhaust gas or other pollutants from their onboard power source. This definition includes battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and excludes low-emission technologies like natural gas (compressed, liquid, or renewable), hybrid-electric, and biodiesel vehicles. Trucks in this report are segmented according to the Zero-Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI) tool’s categorization scheme, which divides Class 2b–8 trucks into seven distinct segments: pickup trucks, cargo vans, medium-duty (MD) step vans, MD trucks, heavy-duty (HD) trucks, refuse trucks, and on-road yard tractors. For more information on the definition and segmentation of commercial ZETs in this analysis, please refer to https://calstart.org/zeroing-in-on-zero-emission-trucks/ for the first version of this report released in January 2022.
2 This document is based on MHD ZET information and MHD truck data (S&P Global (Polk)) as of December 2022. 3 The total number of cumulative MHD ZET deployed sales since 2010 has grown to 6,211 units. 4 States that have adopted the ACT rule as of December 2022 include California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Colorado has
since become the eighth state to adopt the ACT rule in April 2023, though for the purposes of this update, which includes data through 2022, Colorado is not considered an ACT state. Similarly, Maryland and Rhode Island, which in April and May 2023, respectively, directed their states to adopt the ACT rule, are not considered ACT states for the purposes of this update.
5 For more information on the MOU, please visit https://www.nescaum.org/initiatives/mhd-zev-initiative.
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