Day one executive orders issued by President Donald Trump aim to roll back regulations promoting the electrification of the transportation industry, including medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). A new Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) report, “Ready for Work 2.0: On the Road to Clean Trucks,” shows why that move is imprudent, explaining the near-term feasibility and public health, economic, and environmental importance of widescale electrification of MHDVs, including large freight trucks, delivery vans and buses.
“The last few years have been marked by rapid innovation and record deployment of electric trucks,” said report author Sam Wilson, a senior analyst with the Clean Transportation Program at UCS “That progress has made transitioning from combustion to electric trucks feasible and financially sensible for businesses. The Trump administration looks ready to stifle this progress. But rolling back policies supporting clean trucks would risk reversing headway made in improving air quality, reducing climate-warming emissions, and driving innovation in the zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle industry.”
Transportation produces more climate-warming emissions than any other sector of the economy. MHDVs produce about 30% of those emissions, according to the report. What’s more, their emissions are growing. Climate-warming pollution from MHDVs has grown by nearly 80% since 1990, far outpacing other vehicle sectors.
In addition, although MHDVs comprise only 10% of vehicles on the road, they emit more than half of all nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter produced by on-road vehicles. That pollution, which can cause or exacerbate health problems, including asthma, cancer, heart attacks, and strokes, will likely continue to grow as e-commerce grows .
But electric MHDVs produce just a fraction of the lifetime negative health and climate impacts compared to combustion MHDVs.
And according to “Ready for Work 2.0,” widescale electrification of zero-emission MHDVs is highly feasible, due to their range, cost and availability of options. Last year, a record-breaking 35,000 zero-emission vans, trucks and buses hit the road.
More than 70 different types of these vehicles are now operating in red, blue, and purple states across the country. Because 80% of them travel 100 miles or less per day, most of the sector is well-suited for near-phase electrification. Additionally, for several types of electric trucks, the total cost of ownership is cheaper than that of comparable combustion vehicles. Many estimates suggest that this trend will expand to all major vehicle types by the end of the decade.
Trump’s directives seek to dismantle emissions standards, eliminate purchase incentives, throttle direct investments in domestic electric truck manufacturing, and revoke state authority to set stricter pollution controls than the federal government. These rollbacks threaten MHDV electrification progress and could worsen climate change and public health crises while stifling job creation, investments and technological advancement.
“The science is clear,” said Wilson. “The transition to zero-emission freight must continue and accelerate. The environment, the economic competitiveness of domestic truck manufacturing and freight, and public health are on the line. Congress and state leaders must hold the line against the Trump administration’s attempt to quash these policies and protect their constituents by upholding and promoting regulations and investments that support our nation’s leadership on electric trucks and the clean technologies of today, rather than the dirty, inefficient, and archaic systems of the past.”