Right on the heels of issuing its finalized rule for passenger vehicles, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave its final rule for emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other large vehicles. And just like its companion bill for lightweight automobiles, this semi-truck bill is riddled with problems. Truckers aren’t exactly thrilled.
The rule calls for 30% of heavy-duty vocational trucks and 40% of short-haul day cabs to be zero-emission by 2032. In 2023, 98% of the heavy-duty vehicles sold were diesel-powered. We are miles away from 30%.
A diesel-powered semi-truck has a typical range between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, whereas most electric models have ranges below 330. Electric trucks may also take as long as three hours to fully charge, while diesel truck tanks can usually be filled in 20 minutes or less. So, the new rules mean that a trucker stops five or six times more frequently and spends upwards of ten times longer for each fill-up.
Other limitations include lack of charging infrastructure and performance reductions in colder weather, none of which escaped the attention of many in the industry.
One trucker who has been in the business for three decades and is currently an owner-operator, says he wouldn’t do electric trucks even if they were completely subsidized. “I still would refuse because I still would go broke. That’s how useless they are.”
Read the full article here.
Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.