Noting the climate, air quality, environmental justice, clean energy and energy cost benefits, CALSTART, its Global Commercial Vehicle Drive to Zero program and campaign (Drive to Zero), and 16 leading nations are encouraging nations worldwide to adopt a 100% zero-emission truck sales target by the year 2040.
The call to action—presented in the form of a public letter—was issued on behalf of the national governments who have already signed the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Global MOU). The letter was presented during a high-level event at Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF), a joint convening of the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and 7th Mission Innovation (CEM13/MI7), in Pittsburgh, Penn. The GCEAF is the final opportunity for national level climate and energy officials to meet collectively before November’s COP27 Conference in Egypt. Participants in the GCEAF included U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and top climate and energy ministers from around the world.
Under the Global MOU, nations also agree to set an interim goal of 30% new zero-emission truck and bus sales by 2030. In a coordinated effort, subnational governments–like California, Québec (Canada), and Telangana (India)–as well as top manufacturers and fleets have endorsed the ambition of the Global MOU and agreed to work collaboratively to support nations in meeting the 2030 and 2040 goals. In anticipation of today’s call to action, ABB, Allego, ChargePoint, Ballard Power Systems Inc., Eaton, Electric Vehicle Council (Australia) and Xos just announced they too are endorsing the Global MOU.
Data from Drive to Zero’s Zero-Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI) shows that in the heavy-duty truck segment, new model availability is growing rapidly globally. Model availability is expected to nearly double between 2021 and 2023 (from 57 available models to 113 in 2023). The uses for this growing segment of vehicles include city-to-city delivery, refuse collection, and distributing heavy loads from ports to distribution centers (drayage). Additional details on these new global zero-emission model availability findings can be found here.
To give global energy and climate ministers an up-close look at the zero-emission trucks that are available for purchase today, CALSTART gathered more than a dozen zero-emission heavy-duty tractors, delivery vans, step vans, box trucks and other zero-emission vehicles outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where the GCEAF is being held. CALSTART’s Zero-Emission Truck (ZET) Global Expo features vehicles from Lighting eMotors, Nikola, Amazon/Rivian, Xos, Volvo, Lion, Ford, Workhorse, Peterbilt, International, Mack, Morgan and more.
CALSTART’s Drive to Zero co-led several official side-events at the GCEAF aimed at highlighting the importance of zero-emission trucks and buses as tools to address the climate crisis, while examining the barriers and solutions to growing this critical segment quickly, efficiently, and strategically.
