Adjusting to Climate Change Brings Changes to Fleet Management

BRINGS CHANGES TO FLEET MANAGEMENT ADJUSTING to CLIMATE CHANGE California orders zero emissions for all off-road vehicles and equipment by 2035 ©DLYASTOKIV – STOCK.ADOBE.COM

BY GEORGIA KRAUSE

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When the EPA began to roll out new regulations as part of the 1990 Amendments to Clean Air Act, heavy equipment powered by fossil fuels experienced an earthquake that reconfigured the on and off-road construction equipment market forever.

California, frequently the forerunner in all things environmental, is taking control of its own emissions destiny; and more than likely, this latest tremor will send aftershock rumbles throughout the industry again including how fleet managers match their vehicles use to available energy.

On September 23, 2020, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order requiring the California Air Resources Board to develop regulations which will mandate all — a full 100 percent — of new passenger trucks and cars sold in California be zero emission by 2035. In addition: ❯ All drayage trucks to operate emission free by 2035. ❯ All off-road vehicles and operations must be zero emissions by 2035. ❯ All sales and operations of medium and heavy-duty vehicles such as buses must be zero emission by 2045. Governor Newsom’s order reflects his concerns regarding how climate change is impacting California. Currently more than half of the state’s carbon pollution is made up of 80 percent of smog-forming pollution and 95 percent of toxic diesel emissions produced by fossil fuel powered vehicles. The California Air Resources Board has approved new regulations requiring truck manufacturers to transition to electric zero-emission trucks beginning in 2024, and Newsom signed a memorandum of understanding with 14 other states to advance and accelerate the market for electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles including construction equipment.

“Off-road construction equipment Fleet managers will see a wider choice of EVs accounts for 43 tons per day of NOx emissions as equipment manufacturers respond to state in the South Coast Air Basin,” said Wayne regulations; however, the consensus is that Nastri, Executive Officer for South Coast AQMD. lighter duty compact EV equipment will be the The region Orange County and major portions most prevalent. of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Dave Bolderoff, AEMP’s chairman Riverside counties. and fleet manager for the Los

Electric-powered vehicles Angeles County Sanitation (EVs) are trending as the Districts, says “I am excited favored technology to see Newsom and the for getting to zero State of California take emission operations. aggressive measures Scott Young, director to reduce GHG of electromobility and emissions. There must automation for Volvo CE be a demand from says, “We see electric customers or imposed machines as a growing regulations to motivate category.” Volvo CE has equipment manufacturers already committed to electric equipment, pledging to stop ©OLEGDOROSHIN– STOCK.ADOBE. COM to invest in the research and development of new technologies development of diesel-powered compact like electrification.” equipment and shift the product line entirely Equipment manufacturers face significant to battery-powered electric as of next year. hurdles to electrify many of the equipment

Volvo’s lithium-ion powered ECR25 mini excavator and L25 compact wheel loader.

classes. “They must start somewhere, and there are some good use cases for smaller compact excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoe loaders for manufacturers to start piloting their prototypes,” says Bolderoff. “I am personally looking forward to working with a number of equipment manufacturers over the next few years testing prototypes and providing the necessary feedback before they scale for production models.”

Volvo CE has promised $1.5 million and

was awarded a $2 million grant by the EPA and administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for a commercial pilot of the company’s electric, zero-emissions excavator and electric wheel loader in California. Volvo is adapting equipment previously developed for the more mature European zero emissions market and will test the machines in real-life applications for a minimum of six months in California, beginning in September for the excavator and December for

Not So Fast - EPA Calls CA Plan ‘Aspirational’

Just five days after Governor Newsom issued his executive order, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acting administrator, Andrew R. Wheeler, sent Newsom a rather terse letter questioning the legality of the EO, as well as the effective application of what Wheeler calls a ‘singular technology’.

“How do you expect to run an electric car fleet when you can’t even keep the lights on today,” wrote Wheeler citing California’s 2-hour power outage at the East Bay Municipal wastewater treatment plant that resulted in 50K gallons of sewage spilling into the Oakland Estuary.

Wheeler also noted that Governor Newsom’s action was also likely illegal, as a mandate such as Newsom’s would need an EPA waiver to implement.

Instead, the EPA acting administrator suggests California should support free market innovators to develop the technologies of tomorrow and leave the regulations and applications to the federal government.

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Newsom’s office said he won’t be deterred. “While the Trump Administration tries to drive this country off a climate cliff, California is once again assuming the mantle of leadership in the fight against climate change,” said Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar. “We aren’t going to back down from protecting our kids’ health and the air they breathe.”

In his responding letter to Wheeler, Jared

Blumenfeld, Secretary for California’s EPA called Wheeler’s remarks “political posturing” and suggested CalEPA and USEPA work collaboratively to address the effects of climate change. Time will tell.

HAGLUND

SEE (AND HEAR)

THE WORLD’S FIRST FULLY ELECTRIC BACKHOE CHANGES, CHARGES, AND FLEET SCHEDULING As California pushes the zero LOADER emissions trend to increase use of electric vehicles, equipment managers bringing EVs into their fleets will need to adjust their procedures and usage scheduling, specifically how to keep their EVs powered and the available. wheel Locking and leaving a piece of equipment loader. at a jobsite at the end of the day may not work

Another major challenge will be getting well for EVs. Diesel equipment needs only to the required power and charging infrastructure have a fuel truck stop by to top off the tank, but to larger construction projects that typically EVs need to be recharged which requires time use larger types and classes of equipment. and a power source. The executive order states California’s Energy Electric construction equipment adds Commission, along with State Air Resources another layer of planning for the fleet manager Board and the Public Utilities Commission, will to ensure freshly charged equipment is on site be responsible for evaluating what infrastructure come morning. support will be required to support the levels of Ideally, a project will have an on-site power electric vehicle adoption described in the EO. source or access to a mobile fast charging Supporting infrastructure will be included as station, but lacking that the EVs will need to part of larger transportation projects, instead of either have its battery or the entire vehicle being stand alone jobs. returned to the shop each night to be plugged

Need more to think about? Here are several electric vehicle information sources:

❯ Pacific Gas & Electric offers an informative guide to fleet electrification here ❯ Electrification Coalition offers its Electric Vehicle Procurement Best Practices Guide here ❯ National Renewable Energy Laboratory Plug-In Electric Vehicle Handbook for Fleet

Managers available here ❯ Article: Volvo’s Drive to Electric – Your Questions Answered ❯ Article: Battery Powered Excavator on Zero Emission Construction Site

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ANOTHER MAJOR CHALLENGE WILL BE GETTING THE REQUIRED POWERED AND CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE TO LARGER CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THAT TYPICALLY USE LARGER TYPES AND CLASSES OF EQUIPMENT.

into an overnight recharger. Fleet managers with EVs who are responsible for their vehicle’s energy load profile will need to juggle their EVs charging time with both the project’s schedule and their energy provider’s charging window when high capacity electricity transfer is allowed and least expensive.

Understanding the electric fleet’s daily energy requirements on both a per vehicle and total fleet basis will drive power up and usage scheduling. For example, a compact excavator might get eight hours of production time on one full charge, which might take eight hours. Already aware that the power demand window for the least expensive power distribution might be from 7p.m. to 4 a.m., the manager will need the equipment back in the shop by 6p.m. so it can be sent back to the jobsite for a 7a.m. start time.

With no gallons per hour to calculate the electric vehicle’s cost to run, the fleet manager will track the vehicle’s flat power demand during charging in kilowatts for a per vehicle charge. Armed with this data, the fleet manager can determine the equipment’s cost efficiency based on the number of hours the vehicle is used and the energy provider’s rate plan.

In California, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) offers several rate plans: ❯ Time-of-Use (TOU): With time of use plans the cost of electricity varies based on the time of day and season in which it is used. Electricity rates are higher during times of peak energy demand and lower at all other times. ❯ Peak Day Pricing: An optional rate plan that offers businesses a discount on regular summer time-of-use electricity rates in exchange for higher prices during nine to 15 Peak Pricing Event Days per year, typically occurring on the hottest days of the summer.

Additional charges may include a distribution/transmission fee, a demand charge which is tied to the time of day the energy is transferred, seasonal rates based on weather stresses to the electric grid’s, or power factor adjustments credit depending on how efficiently the customer’s facility consumes power.