The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by Pres. Biden, may not do what its moniker implies. But spending upwards of $370 billion on low and zero emissions could make electric semi-trucks more affordable.
“With the amount of money available for incentivizing medium- and heavy-duty trucks — 30 percent of the cost of a new truck up to $40,000, and the $100,000 for electric infrastructure — those pieces actually pull forward electrification,” Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, reportedly said. “I think this will definitely hurry up and get people off the sidelines, and even help scale. That’s a lot of money.”
Heavy-duty commercial vehicles such as the Nikola Tre BEV are selling for more than $300,000. The apparent zero-emissions semi-truck leader is reportedly on pace to produce 300 to 500 trucks from Coolidge, Arizona, plant by year’s end. Coupled with tax incentives north of $120,000, the sticker price of a new emissions-compliant rig appears to be coming into focus.
If the Inflation Reduction Act’s goal is to speed a transition to carbon-neutral vehicles, manufacturers have received the message loud and clear. Companies such as Audio and Navistar announced they are phasing out production of internal combustion engines based, in part, on the Act’s incentives that include the following.
- Upwards of $1 billion in grants and rebates for clean Classes 6-7 vehicles
- Advanced manufacturing and clean fuel production credits include $2 billion for domestic manufacturing retooling grants.
- Approximately $6 billion in grant funding to the Environmental Protection Agency for environmental and climate justice block grants, and the purchase and installation of zero-emission equipment at ports.
Daimler Truck North America indicated it has plans in the works to shift away from gas and diesel vehicles to only carbon-neutral models by 2039. That’s an interesting target date considering California has regulations in the pipeline that would effectively ban gas- and diesel-powered vehicles around 2035.
“The legislation will certainly fast-track fleets to clean vehicles faster than before. But, I believe, in the legislation you have to receive grants first in order to get the credits for the charging stations. So, we need to do some more research in the area and see what comes of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program for the state of Missouri and nationally as well,” American Central Transport vice president Brian Matthews, who runs a Missouri-based outfit of about 300 trucks. “We have a small fleet of day cab trucks that have the potential to be converted to heavy-duty commercial EVs before our over-the-road fleet.”
And therein lies the rub. Lawmakers are throwing tax incentives behind zero-emissions trucks without having the charging infrastructure in place. Another part of the equation that has not been adequately discussed is the fact electric semi-trucks have a maximum range of 300-500 miles.
A Nikola Tre, for example, requires more than two hours to recharge compared to a diesel truck that can exceed 2,000 on a single tank of diesel. That means longer freight transportation hours and higher costs that will likely be passed along to consumers.
Sources:
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/trucking-calls-ira-game-changer-zevs
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