Real Talk About the Future of Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicl

TECHNOLOGY FUTURE OF HEAVY-DUTY ELECTRIC VEHICLES

BY NAVNEET TRIVEDI

There is a need for rapid development of the medium- and heavyduty (MD/HD) electric vehicle sector in New York.

Concerns around the cost of fossil fuels, plus environmental and health impacts of C02 and particulates, have resulted in New York pledging all new MD/ HD sales will be zero emission vehicles by 2050.

NYSERDA’s Clean Transportation Prize is looking to fund $85 million in vehicle electrification and mobility projects in New York, including $24 million for MD/HD vehicles.

Despite these recent initiatives, there are significant barriers to MD/HD transportation electrification that need to be addressed. Most of the current approaches are not focused on the right problem.

There are four key challenges preventing MD/HD electrification: • Business Continuity - While companies with large fleets, such as Schneider, UPS, and Amazon, are often brought up as targets for electrification, 90 percent of truck operators in the U.S. operate with six or fewer trucks and have limited access to capital.

Furthermore, some fleet operators and owners view electric fleets as a threat to their legacy business due to perceived reduction in maintenance revenues. This, coupled with the complexities of charging infrastructure ownership in depots, remains a major hurdle for many operators. • Affordability and Access - MD/ HD electric vehicles are two to three times more expensive than conventional ICE vehicles. Voucher programs generally only cover the cost difference between the two, not the full purchase of the vehicle.

In addition, these programs require scraping the old truck when the new electric vehicle is delivered. The risk of replacing a dependable truck with an unfamiliar vehicle is too great for most operators.

Small businesses operate on slimmer margins, and often use trucks acquired from secondary markets. The result is that the operators of the dirtiest trucks on the road today do not have access to the capital or facilities required to support an electric transition. • Nascent Private Sector - Leaving aside Tesla, which has perceived monopolistic interests, most of the other EV infrastructure providers are small and have a high cost of capital. And the nature of startups gives them shorter runways to succeed.

Public sector entities such as New York Power Authority have initiated public charging infrastructure projects, yet this will not be sufficient unless they can adopt innovative business models and public/private partnerships.

• Regulatory/Business Model

Limitations - Utilities are allowed by regulators to provide rebates for make-ready infrastructure, but considering the barriers described above, this may lead to building bridges to nowhere.

Utilities and ratepayers have an inherent interest in orderly and sustainable electrification of transportation. The regulatory argument of utility involvement only when the market fails may not let the market develop in the first place.

With EVSE providers in their

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