Curiosity Grows in Pennsylvania’s Grant Program to Electrify Fleets

[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]

Pennsylvania’s new $12.7 million environmental grant program to impress freight truck fleets is producing curiosity from municipal and business truck fleet house owners.

The “Electrifying Truck Fleets for Cleaner Air in Our Communities” program was launched in November to create a transformational change in transportation and fight air air pollution by serving to to impress native freight vehicles, the state’s Division of Environmental Safety stated.

The grant utility deadline has been prolonged by a month to March 31 to permit candidates extra time to develop their fleet electrification plans previous to making use of. To take part, an applicant should schedule and maintain a pre-application assembly with DEP no later than March 1.

“To date, greater than 20 fleets have scheduled pre-application conferences, and we proceed to obtain requests for these conferences,” stated Geoff Bristow, DEP power program supervisor. “We’re emphasizing to all candidates that they should develop a charging infrastructure plan that matches their truck working profiles.”

DEP Launches $12.7 Million Initiative to Electrify Truck Fleets for Cleaner Air: https://t.co/8GhnNnjFla#DrivingPAForward pic.twitter.com/dIgeiISBv2

— PA Division of Environmental Safety (@PennsylvaniaDEP) December 1, 2022

This side of this system has compelled candidates to co-develop their EV truck fleet plans and charging plans on the identical time. Within the pre-application conferences, DEP discusses particular person tasks and gives assist to make sure aggressive purposes are submitted, Bristow stated.

“In these conferences, we emphasize the excessive degree of dedication we’re in search of with regard to the variety of vehicles, at minimal of 5, and detailed mission plans to make sure the candidates are totally conscious of prices, infrastructure wants and knowledge reporting necessities they’ll want to handle of their purposes,” he stated.

A complete of $12.7 million is offered to native governments, companies and nonprofits to exchange a minimum of 5 previous diesel vehicles with new all-electric variations. For smaller fleets, DEP will contemplate permitting an exception for a three-truck minimal substitute.

Funding will cowl native freight vehicles (rubbish, recycling, utility and supply vehicles), electrical car charging infrastructure and set up. These receiving the grants should scrap older diesel automobiles inside two years and have new EV vehicles on the street.

DEP will grant 90% of mission funding to native municipalities, or 100% if the municipality has attained authorities standing as being financially distressed. Nongovernmental candidates can obtain cash to fund 75% of their tasks.

“The response has been very constructive. We’re getting important curiosity from municipal and business truck fleet house owners masking a great vary of native freight working situations,” Bristow added. “We’re actually happy with the extent of response to this point and anticipate a strong variety of well-developed mission plans to be submitted by the appliance due date.”

The state goals to decrease air air pollution particularly in locations that traditionally have borne a disproportionate share of detrimental environmental impacts, Bristow famous.

“Our predominant focus is on vehicles serving Environmental Justice areas, although visitors density and inhabitants density are secondary priorities in utility evaluations,” he stated.

In city, rural and suburban areas all through Pennsylvania, EJ areas are census tracts the place a minimum of 20% of residents reside at or beneath the federal poverty line, and a minimum of 30% of the folks there determine as a nonwhite minority.

Making a enterprise case for EV adoption can also be a spotlight.

“A giant secondary objective of this grant program is the event of case research on medium- and heavy-duty fleet electrification utilizing key efficiency and price knowledge reported by the truck house owners over a two-year operational interval,” Bristow stated.

DEP has teamed up with Penn State College’s Larson Transportation Institute to develop monitoring parameters and telematics reporting necessities for the case research.

“The objective is to supply helpful perception to different truck fleet managers who’re contemplating zero-emission vehicles,” Bristow famous.

The company is also providing a complete of $1.7 million Clear Diesel Grants to a few tasks to exchange previous diesel vehicles with zero- or low-emission vehicles. These efforts are amongst a set of initiatives throughout the DEP’s “Driving PA Ahead” mission to decrease car emissions in Pennsylvania.

Need extra information? Hearken to in the present day’s each day briefing beneath or go right here for more information: