White House Issues Zero-Emission Corridor Plan for Medium, Heavy-Duty Trucks — OPIS

The Biden administration has released a national strategy to speed the development of an electric and hydrogen fueling infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty trucks between now and 2040.

The plan also includes the designation of nationwide EV freight corridors. The blueprint, which was issued on Tuesday, said providing ubiquitous and convenient access to EV charging and hydrogen fueling along freight corridors, high-usage ports and other freight facilities are key to the administration's goal of ensuring that 30% of all freight trucks sold by 2030 are zero-emission vehicles. The plan calls for that percentage to increase to 100% by 2040.

"A core objective of the strategy is to meet freight truck and technology markets where they are today, determine where they are likely to develop next and set an ambitious pathway that mobilizes actions to achieve decarbonization," the administration said in a news release.

Medium and heavy-duty trucks are responsible for about 23% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

Under the plan, the Federal Highway Administration has designated National EV Freight Corridors along critical interstate highways and other roads as required by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which authorized up to $108 billion in transportation investments.

The administration said it expects the freight corridor designations to spur more private investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with a focus on the medium and heavy-duty truck market.

"We are grateful that the Biden administration is recognizing the critical link between how freight moves today and the efficient build out of a nationwide network of charging stations for medium and heavy-duty trucks. For this to work, it needs to impose minimal disruption on how businesses operate today. This plan recognizes that," NATSO and SIGMA said in a joint statement Tuesday. The two trade groups represent truck stops, travel centers and fuel marketers.

The administration also said the plan will deliver health benefits and possibly reduce the costs of both battery electric and hydrogen-fuel-cell power-train technologies.

Hydrogen is considered more suitable for heavy-duty trucks because electric vehicles of that size would require large batteries that would take a significant amount of time to recharge. Hydrogen fuel cell technology, however, is still in its early stages and will require significant investment to commercialize.

The four phases of the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor strategy are establishing priority hubs based on freight volumes between now and 2027, connecting hubs along critical freight corridors by 2030, expanding corridor connections and starting network development between 2030 and 2035 and achieving a national network by linking regional corridors for ubiquitous access from 2035 to 2040.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

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March 13, 2024 11:08 ET (15:08 GMT)

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