Volvo Trucks North America awarded California EV grants
Volvo Trucks North America was awarded $21.7 million in grants to deploy 70 VNR Electric trucks in Southern California for regional freight distribution and drayage. Deliveries are to begin next year, with the order expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022.
Part of the funding was provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Targeted Air Shed Grant Program, which is providing $20 million in funding. Another source of funding is $1.7 million from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) for charging infrastructure, which was provided in an effort to help clean up the air quality and emissions in the southern US state of California.
“This grant provides Volvo Trucks with an excellent opportunity to further expedite the success of the ecosystem designed through the Volvo LIGHTS project to support the wide-scale deployment of battery-electric heavy-duty trucks,” said president of Volvo Truck North America Peter Voorhoeve. “We applaud the EPA and South Coast AQMD for addressing the key issues in advancing electromobility and incentivizing technology investments in the region […]”.
The initiators estimate that the 70 Volvo VNR Electric trucks deployed through the grant will “provide lifetime emission reduction benefits in excess of 152.63 tons of NOx, 1.317 tons of PM2.5, and 53,160 tons of CO2”. Volvo plans to use the data gathered through the programme to further refine their trucks, to “refine total cost of ownership calculations including actual vehicle maintenance and fuel cost savings.” This would also enable the company to fine tune their production facility at their New River Valley plant in Virginia.
Volvo Trucks will deliver the VNR Electric trucks to Southern California fleet operators starting in 2021 through the third quarter of 2022,
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